


Inara

by Ash_yeet



Category: Original Work
Genre: Action/Adventure, LGBTQ Themes, Multi, NaNoWriMo, Novel, Original Character(s), Original Fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-06-07
Updated: 2020-06-07
Packaged: 2021-03-03 18:55:05
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 30
Words: 65,264
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24590407
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ash_yeet/pseuds/Ash_yeet
Summary: Klairence is just a human, a weak and puny minority in a land full of extraordinary races. A short trip to earn some cash quickly becomes a quest to find an ancient crown, one supposed to be simply and heirloom for a rich family. However, after mysterious attacks and threats, Klairence and his new friends learn that the crown may not be what it seems, and that the whole crew could be in a lot of danger.





	1. The Boy and the Boring Quest

**Author's Note:**

> Hi! This is the first book I've ever written. I did it in 1 month for NaNoWriMo, with some minor editing. It isn't a fan work, but I didn't know where else to share it. It is pretty rough and not the best thing I've written, but It's the only project I've completely finished.  
> While it isn't my proudest work, I hope somebody can enjoy it and see what a NaNoWriMo project may look like. I'm an amateur author and finishing a book was a big accomplishment for me. I'll be continuing to work on my writing skills to create better stories in the future. While I will not be editing it in the future nor will I be writing a sequel, constructive criticism is appreciated.  
> I hope you find my story entertaining!

Klairence is walking. He's been walking for a while. There's a village ahead, but it doesn't excite him. He's got a mission, and he's going to complete it. Or at least he hopes he will. 

The village is small, just like his own. Brown buildings, brown dirt, and the flat brown and beige fields of endless, boring crops. He steps into the village, his feet kicking up dirt, hands shoved into the pockets of his worn trousers. His dirty blond hair ruffles in the light breeze that soars through the warm summer air. 

Klairence steps into a main street sort of space, a long dirt road stretching through tallish shops and homes. "A human... we don't get many of them around here." He hears one teen say as he strolls by.

"Heh. Yeah. Bet he's a thief." He hears another. Klairence ignores their comments. The teens, like himself, are always the loudest. They should really learn how to talk about strangers behind their backs properly. Klairence manages to work his way over to a tavern. Ka knows he needs a bite to eat. | He pushes open the door and enters the relatively empty tavern. A bartender is washing some dishes behind the counter. She smiles as he enters, her ivory feathered wings folded behind her back. 

"Welcome to Patsy's Inn. How can I help you?" She says, eyeing Klairence's wingless back. She quickly shrugs it off, though. 

"I'll take a roll, please," he says as he looks outside, seeing the light blue of the sky slowly fade into a deep violet, "and one night's stay." She sets down the wooden mug she was washing and her stained old cloth.

"Of course. Eighteen gold, please." She says. Klairence fishes in his pockets, pulling out a couple of silver coins and placing them on the counter. The bartender takes the money, and heads to grab him his bread. Klairence sits down at the bar, looking around. He sees only a few people around in the tavern. A few aviatars stand around, chatting and drinking. They look around his age, probably sixteen or so. His mother would say they're irresponsible for drinking this young. An older aviatar sits at a corner table alone, drinking what looks like his third tankard of beer. He has only a wing and a half. Klairence doesn't want to know where that other half went. The bartender returns, handing Klairence a loaf of bread and a room key. 

"Here's your key. Rooms are upstairs. Call me if you need anything." She says. Klairence slightly nods, biting into his bread. It's coarse and hard to chew, most likely barley bread. At least it's food. His peaceful eating is interrupted by a man entering the tavern. This newcomer certainly makes an entrance.

The bartender turns her head to look at him, standing there in the doorway. Unlike everyone else in the village, this aviatar isn't wearing normal clothing. Rather than the brown and tan scratchy clothing Klairence is used to seeing, this person wears neat, ivory clothing, with silver woven throughout the trim. He wears no coat or rags, and carries a large, high-quality pack. Upon closer inspection the pack appears to be leather. Fancy. His clothes are symmetrical and clean, and his brown hair is neatly cut and parted. He enters the tavern with a walk that simply demands attention, striding by as if he owns the place. No doubt he could afford to own it. Klairence can't help but stare, along with the few others in the tavern. The man's pants are cut off at his knees, exposing his dark claws, and his shirt is cut so that his massive feathery wings can rest comfortably on his back. Obviously custom-made.

"Uhm… welcome to Patsy's Inn, sir. Can," the bartender pauses, clearing her throat. "May I get you something?" She hastily puts her dishes down. The man pauses.

"Yes... some broiled boar and a mead, please." Hearing his voice, Klairence realizes this guy isn't really an adult. Heck, he could even be Klairence's age, a teenager. Just a very tall, broad, and tan teenager. He sits down beside Klairence at the bar.

"That'll be twenty-five gold, sir." He opens a different pouch, a small hide one attached to a colorful belt. He places a fifty gold coin on the table. Klairence stares at the shimmering coin. It shines like a star. 

"Keep the change." He says. The bartender is stunned. She hesitantly grabs the coin, putting it in her apron pocket. 

"T-Thank you, sir." She tries to contain her smile. She just got twenty-five bonus gold. Good for her. Klairence looks back at his bread, a little shocked himself. I mean, that guy just threw away twenty-five gold like it was no big deal. That's at  _ least _ five bagels worth of gold. Six if it's the stupid ten year old working at the bakery again. That man just threw away five bagels without a second glance. Klairence wishes he had enough money to do that. Then the aviatar pulls out a nice map, one with color and everything, and that proved it for Klairence. This guy is  _ rich _ . Klairence takes another bite of his cheap bread. He turns and sees that the group of teens in the tavern have set down their drinks and are now murmuring quietly. After a few moments they exit the tavern. The mysterious rich aviatar beside Klairence is staring too intently at his map to care, but Klairence watches suspiciously as the others exit. Klairence quickly shrugs off his suspicion, however. It isn’t his town, and it isn’t his business what stupid things the local teenagers do with their free time.

Just as Klairence finishes up his bread, he hears the aviatar clear his throat. He turns to Klairence, gesturing at his map.

"Excuse me, but do you know if this is Manlin?" He says. Klairence looks up, still chewing his last bite of bread. He quickly swallows.

"Uh, yeah. It is." Klairence says. The aviatar looks back at the map, brow furrowed.

"How far would it be to the Port of Halona-"

"Three days," Klairence interrupts. "Sorry. Didn't mean to interrupt. It'd be three days travel." Klairence looks away. "Give or take." 

The aviatar smiles. "Thank you. Are you headed to the port as well?" He asks. Klairence nods. "Well then, best of luck on your travels, ...?"

"Klairence," Klairence says. "I'm Klairence." 

"Safe travels, Klairence." He says, leaving the tavern. Klairence finishes his food and sits, staring at nothing in particular. The bartender pours some drinks, and the smell of alcohol fills the small space. Klairence coughs a bit. He hates that smell. He stands and moves himself outside, breathing in the fresh night air, and he stares up at the endless stars of the night. 

Klairence's feet start moving, carrying him down the path and along the silent houses. It's not often he gets time alone like this. He basks in the silence until there is no more silence. Instead, he hears a noise. He turns around slowly, facing a dark alley. Something is wrong. He can feel it in the way the air… changed. Getting colder and… eerily calm. He considers running away. But his curiosity gets the better of him, and Klairence takes a deep breath, facing the dark path.

He creeps over, pulling out a large, poor quality dagger. Despite a lack of professional training, Klairence knows a thing or two about self-defense for… many reasons. He peers into the alley. Squinting, he can see two of the teens holding the aviatar against a wall, hand over his mouth. Another one has something Klairence can't quite make out, but it looks like some kind of blunt weapon. Just as the boy is about to raise his weapon, Klairence's feet start moving. He dashes into the alley, swiftly punching the boy in the face before he can notice. The boy lets out a shout, as what looks like blood flies out of his mouth. It's difficult to see in the poor light. The captive aviatar takes this moment of shock to break free of the other's grasp, and grab a sword lying on the ground. Klairence didn't even notice the sword sitting there.

The teens recover from their shock and grab their weapons, getting ready to attack Klairence and the aviatar. A fourth one emerges from the wall, hovering just above the ground. The rest spread out their wings. Klairence quickly realizes how badly outnumbered they are and, in true cowardly fashion, bails out. He grabs the rich aviatars arm and starts running down the alley.

"C'mon!" Klairence shouts, as he darts away with the aviatar in tow.

"What?!" He shouts back. "What are we do-"

"WE'RE RUNNING!" Klairence shouts, and it finally hits the aviatar. They begin to sprint, reaching the end of the alley. Just as they're about to run out into the street, the aviatar grabs Klairence and lifts him up, as they fly straight up, leaving the attackers clueless. Klairence resists the urge to scream. The aviatar, clearly struggling, flies over to the nearest roof, setting Klairence down on it in a less than graceful manner. They crouch behind an awning, remaining silent. One minute passes. Then another. Around five minutes later, after they are sure the attackers are gone, Klairence lets out the breath he'd been holding. "I think they're gone..." Klairence says, turning to face the aviatar. He's pale and breathing hard.

"Yeah..." He says. Then he looks Klairence right in the eyes. "Thank you."

"Yeah... yeah no problem-" 

"Seriously. Thank you. If I'd gotten that sword stolen I-I don't know what I would've done," He says. His eyes are wide, and his breathing heavy. He puts his face in his hands. "I should've been able to fight them off. I'm... sorry." He looks back up at Klairence. Klairence stares at him, not sure what to say.

"It's fine, really. But, uh, I'd kinda like to get off the roof now." 

"Oh! Right. Sorry." He grabs Klairence by the arms, lowering down the ground. "My name is Heven, by the way." He bows a little, a formality unfamiliar to Klairence. "Pleasure to meet you, despite the uh... circumstance." Klairence takes a small step back, a little uncomfortable. He nods his head, still not sure how to react. 

"Nice to meet you too, I guess." Klairence busies himself with a futile attempt to brush the dust off of his permanently dusty woven jacket. The jacket is a bit too small and way too old, the trim frayed and rough. He doesn't remember a time when it was new. Heven, on the other hand, attempts to brush non-existent dust off of his clothing, which are so fancy it feels like dust avoids the place for fear of being taxed. Klairence opens his mouth to speak, but stops as he notices Heven digging through his pouch. He pulls out a couple of golden coins and places them into his palm, holding his hand out to Klairence.

"Here. Compensation for your trouble." He says flatly. Klairence blinks, staring blankly at Heven.

"Uhhhhh… what?" Klairence mumbles, pushing Heven's hand away. Heven looks at Klairence, confused.

"It's money. To make up for you saving me," He stares at Klairence like he might be deaf. "Do you not know what compensation is?" Klairence quickly shakes his head.

"Of course I know what compensation is. I'm poor, not stupid." He says, scoffing. "And I don't need money for helping you out. That's just what people... do sometimes. Decent people. Who happen to know how to punch other, less decent people."

"Oh." Heven says softly, shoving the money back in his pouch. He turns away, a little embarrassed. 

"Come on, we should get back to the tavern. You're staying there too, right?" Klairence asks. Heven nods, and they begin to wander back to the main street. Avoiding alleyways, of course. 

"So, where you from?" Klairence says, trying to strike up a conversation. He didn't often get a chance to just talk with others, especially his age. 

"I am from Ilip," He says proudly. Klairence politely smiles, despite having no clue where that is. Heven notices Kairence's confusion and sighs. "You probably know it as The Floating City."

"You're from The Floating City!? The capital!?" Klairence shouts, his face lighting up with excitement. "That's amazing!" Klairence has so many questions, but he restrains himself, remembering that he barely knows this guy. Heven smiles at Klairence.

"As with any city, if you spend enough time there the spectacular sights become a little less spectacular." Heven says with a smile. But Klairence shakes his head in disbelief. He can't imagine ever getting tired of a city like that. Sure, he's never visited, but he's heard stories. The grand, old architecture. The waterfalls that pour off the edge of the city's land. How the ground it sits upon looks as if it was ripped from the very land beneath it, probably because it was. He would do anything to get a chance to see it. Glancing at the necklace, he remembers he might soon get that chance. 

"Well, back in the bar you said you wanted to know how far the Port of Halona is. That where you're going?" Klairence asks. Heven nods. "Funny. That's where I'm headed, too." Heven looks at him, shocked.

"Really? That's great news!" Heven says, stopping. They've reached the front of the Tavern. "You see, I'm on a bit of a... quest." Klairence can't help but snicker.

"A quest? What are you, a knight?" He chuckles a little. Heven, however, doesn't look amused.

"Yes, a quest. That is the term which best describes my situation. Halona is still a ways away, and I could use some muscle in case I wind up in another place like that." He gestures to the alley. Klairence's face lights up, as he realizes where this conversation is going.

"You want... to hire me... as protection?" He asks, confusion plastered across his dirty face. "You realize I'm not trained, right? That makes no-" Heven interrupts him, placing an arm on Klairence's shoulder and looking him right in the eyes. 

"Look. I'm not exactly supposed to be going on this trip. Professionals tend to ask a lot of questions and background information," Heven takes his arm off of Klairence's shoulder. "I just need some help getting to and from the Port of Halona, no questions asked. Could you do that?" Klairence thinks about this. Now, he has no reason to want to help. He just wants to sell this necklace, get home, and get Leyla and his mom, Caitlin, in a better spot. And yet, as he stands here, something tells him at least offering couldn't hurt. Right?

"How much are you willing to pay me?" He asks. Heven pauses. He looks in his pouch, and then back at Klairence.

"600. 1,000 if you'll take me to back to the Floating City, too." Klairence goes pale. That is  _ a lot  _ of gold. He glances at the necklace wrapped firmly around his neck, and back at a desperate looking Heven. He sighs. Another thousand gold would help. There was really no reason not to. Klairence could deal with some possibly annoying company for some extra cash. Klairence looks up at Heven.

"All right. I'll do it." He says. Heven extends his hand, and Klairence shakes it. Heven smiles a little. 

"Great. I'll meet you at the bar in the morning. Again, thank you." He then opens the door and wanders in. Klairence stays outside for a moment longer, looking up at the starry sky. Another boring quest, eh? Oh well, it would be simple enough, and worth a lot too. After, not a lot could go wrong in the distance between Manlin and Halona. He is sure it'll be fine. He then turns, and heads into Patsy's Inn to get some well deserved rest. 

He hopes Leyla has gone to bed at home, too.

"I wanna coooome!" Leyla jumped around, tugging at Klairence's torn pants. He smiled at her, crouching down the reach her level. His dirty blond hair was tossed around his face, in a scruffy, yet tasteful, mess. He ruffled Leyla's soft blond curls.

"Sorry kiddo. The Port of Halona's a little too far away for you." He tapped her nose, and she giggled. Her eyes were bright and brown, skin glowing with the happy radiance only a child could have. Klairence's eyes, on the other hand, were brown and dull. Tired. It had been a tough week of work for him. But he smiled for Leyla. Everything was about to change for them now. "But I promise I'll bring you back something nice, ok? A new doll maybe?"

"Really?" Her eyes brightened. She jumped around a little, clutching her ragged teddy bear. "Yay! Brother's going to bring me a doll! Hear that mama!" Leyla danced over to Klairence's mom, little feet elegantly gliding over the splintering wood floors. His mother gave a weak smile.

"Yes. It's quite wonderful, dear." She said, her smile never quite reaching her wrinkled eyes. She then let out a cough. She shambled over to Klairence, worry filling her stormy gray eyes. "Be careful, ok? There could be bandits." Klairence put his arm on her shoulder.

"Don't worry about me, mom. I promise I'll bring you back lots of food. And medicine. Ok? I promise." Klairence said. He really meant it, too. He swallowed his tears as his mother hugged him tight. Leyla joined in, hugging their knees. "I love you."

"I love you too," His mom whispered. She then let go of him, and held Leyla's hand. "Say bye to brother, ok?"

"Bye bye!" Leyla shouted, waving her hand. Klairence waved back, and then he was gone, starting down the path out of Apa and into Halona.


	2. An Injured Deer

Klairence strolls down another dusty dirt path, except this time he isn't alone. He's still bored, though. Definitely still bored. And tired. Heven walks a lot faster than Klairence's usual, leisurely pace, and his legs are really beginning to feel it. At the very least, the landscape has started to change. The rolling hills have begun to fade, making way for trees. Big ones, too. Klairence looks up in awe. His village doesn't have many trees. The trees soar above far him, scattered throughout rapidly multiplying bushels of green, lush grass. The farther he walks, the more wild seems to creep in on the organized farmland. The grass grows tall, the trees even taller. Sunlight filters through the gorgeous green of the leaves, filling Klairence with an energy he hasn't felt in a long time. He smiles, basking in the light. He doesn't regret this trip, not one bit. Not yet, anyway.

He looks up at Heven, who is walking straight ahead on the little dirt path. He has one hand resting on the hilt of his sword, gleaming in the bright sun. A cool breeze flows by, as Klairence jogs a bit to catch up with Heven.

"So, where'd you get the sword?" Klairence asks. He'd tried to talk to Heven a little before, but their conversations never led anywhere. Heven was just too different, Klairence guessed. Still, he figures he should try. Heven flinches, a little surprised at Klairence's sudden appearance beside him.

"This? My father had a blacksmith craft it for me." Heven says casually. "He gave all of my brothers one, too." 

Klairence looks down. "Wow. You must be pretty rich then, huh?"

"Well, that's not an inherently bad thing." Heven says. Klairence doesn't respond. Heven faces Klairence, slowing his pace slightly. "What, do you think anyone a little more fortunate than you is automatically awful?"

"I mean... pretty much." Klairence shrugs. He doesn't like to sugarcoat things. That's gotten him into more than one fistfight, though. Heven looks at him, a little hurt. 

"That's not-"

"Just don't. It's fine, I don't really care. Clearly I'm just here for the money, too." Klairence says, trying to change the subject. But Heven doesn't let it drop.

"There's no need to be so assuming." Heven says with genuine concern. 

"Uh huh, sure. Easy to say." Klairence says coldly. He doesn't think Heven really means it, of course. Why would he?

"You're being awfully disrespectful." Heven proclaims.

"Mhm." Klairence says, not really listening. He's begun to tune out of the conversation, staring back up at the sky. Conversation might not have been the best idea. 

"Respect is just how you be polite, especially to those older than you."

"You're like, a year older than me," Klairence scoffs. He crosses his arms. "Whatever. I don't care."

"You should remember I'm the one paying you." Heven says. Klairence drops his arms, in a subconscious effort to be a little more professional. Heven brushes off his shirt. "If you're really only in this for the money, insulting your employer isn't the best course of action, is it?" Klairence turns his head away in frustration. He hates sucking up to people for money, and he's tempted to just walk away right then and there. But then he remembers Leyla, and the bright look on her little face when he promised her food, and clothes, and toys. The necklace might be enough, but he wants the best for her. So, he takes a deep breath, calming his frustration.

"Fine. I'm sorry. Let's just walk." Klairence says, not meaning his apology one bit. He looks straight ahead and begins to walk again. Heven nods his head once, and they both begin to walk ahead, a little farther apart than before. 

As the sun lowers, the land around them begins to change drastically. The trees multiply like rabbits, quickly consuming the sky above the travelers. Klairence stares off as they descend deeper into the woods. They've definitely left Apa by now. The trees begin to change as well, from a cheery green to a deep emerald. Pines begin to pop up as flowers fade and ferns spread across the damp and rich ground. Klairence looks around, occasionally running to the side of the road to inspect a plant. He's never seen so much green in his life. And, despite his attempts to hide it, Heven can't help but grin as the scent of fresh pine and wood fills the breezy air. 

The sun begins to set, orange making it's way across a deep blue sky, creeping into the cracks of fluffy white clouds. The colors streak across the sky, and Klairence catches glimpses of the sunset through the canopy of leaves that slowly threatens to envelope him. As darkness fills the air, Klairence realizes how dim the stars truly are in a place like this. His heart rate rises steadily, as he hears things that aren't there, spotting shadows that seem to move and leaves that whistle. He swallows his fear, continuing to march forward. Granted, he marches a little closer to Heven, keeping one hand on his dagger. Heven stops, looking up at the violet sky as it approaches a total black.

"It's getting dark. We need to set up camp." He says, still staring at the sky through the thick branches of pines. Klairence nods. They veer off the road, pausing by a creek running by the path. The two lay out woven blankets and sit, Klairence grabbing an apple out of his bag and munching down on it. No more wagons or weary travelers traverse the path now. Only the sound of crickets and other chirping bugs reamain.

Heven pulls out the map from his bag, spreading it out across the blanket. He stares at it, muttering as he drags his finger across the rough paper. Klairence can't help but peer over his shoulder at the aged parchment. 

"We've got a few more days travel, I believe. Luckily, bandits don't seem to frequent these parts." Heven says, rolling the map back up and tucking it into his bag. "We should enter Clarenzia soon." Klairence finishes his apple, tossing the core to the side.

"Clarenzia? I thought we were headed to Halona." Klairence questions. Heven looks at Klairence, confused.

"Well, yes. We have to go through Clarenzia to get to Halona," Heven states. "Have you never seen a map before?" Klairence shrugs.

"Not really."

"Then how do you know where you are headed?"

"I was told this path led to Halona, and that to get Halona, you go through a forest." Klairence says, gesturing to the trees around them. "And this looks like a forest to me." Heven pauses, staring at Klairence. He slides the map over to Klairence.

"Here, take a look." Heven says, scooching a little closer to Klairence.

"Really? I don't want to mess it up or something. It looks nice." Klairence flinches away from the aged paper, afraid that his mere touch might tear the precious thing apart. Heven ignores Klairence's initial nervousness, pointing at the paper.

"See? We're here, in the forest between Clarenzia and Apa." Heven points at the map. Klairence nods, pretending to understand, while he's actually admiring the fancy illustrations that decorate the map, like the intricate sketch of a sea monster he spots up in the corner. Heven then folds it up, placing it carefully back in his pack. Then the awkward silence settles once again, this time without Klairence's rather noisy eating to disrupt it. 

"Hey, uh sorry I got kinda… frustrated earlier." Klairence says, breaking the thin silence stretched between them. Heven looks up, a little surprised.

"It's fine. Travel can make anyone a little tense." Heven says, waving it off. There it was again. That nonchalant attitude that just... bothers Klairence. Klairence forces himself to take a deep breath.  _ It's not a big deal _ . He reminds himself.  _ At least he doesn't care _ . Heven is about to open his mouth to say something when he's interrupted by a rustling from the woods.. Klairence perks up, his hand instinctively grasping for the hilt of his dagger. Heven grabs his sword, holding it by his side.

"What was that?" Klairence whispers, slowly standing up. Heven remains sitting, and shrugs.

"It could've just been a rabbit or such." He says, a little louder than Klairence. Still, Heven keeps a firm grasp on the handle of his sword. Then there's another rustle, this time much louder. The crunching of underbrush and dirt beneath what could be a foot. Klairence whips his head around to face the noise.

"Who's there?" Klairence shouts into the trees. Silence. Then something moves. Klairence faces the spot, noticing a few tall bushes shaking. Panic grips his heart as he instinctively pulls his dagger out from his belt, brandishing it towards the bushes. The bushes begin to shake, and just as Klairence braces himself for the worst, a girl falls out of the bushes and onto the ground, her face lying flat on the ground. 

Klairence leaps back a little. "Gah!" He shouts, flailing his arms a bit. His dagger falls from his clumsy hands and onto the dirt. He stops, as he realizes what lies in front of him. There's a young girl in front of him, although not much younger than he is. Fifteen to sixteen, most likely. Her brown hair is a tangled mess around her head, grime infecting it as the locks rest upon the dirty forest floor. Two small horns that resemble branches jut out of her head, and her skin, or I guess you could say her fur, is a short and fuzzy tan. Scratched up hooves emerge from the bottom of her torn up ivory dress. He cannot get a good look at her face, since half of it is submerged in the damp dirt. 

Heven stands up and set's his sword on the ground as Klairence rushes over to her. "Hello! Hello, are you alright!" Klairence yells, a bit too frantically. The girl doesn't respond. She appears to be unconscious. Heven dashes over, kneeling by her side. He grabs her hand, a stern look covering his sharp face, as he places to fingers on her wrist. Meanwhile, Klairence is freaking out. "Uhm, what do we do! There's just a random girl here now, and she's probably dead! What is she doing? Did something happen? Is there a fire, oh Ka there better not be a fire I gotta get home..." Klairence flails about and continues to mutter frantically to himself, not particularly helping the situation. Heven remains calm, taking his fingers off of her wrist.

"Her heart is still beating. She's alive." Heven says. Klairence pauses his panic for a moment, letting out a sigh of relief.

"Oh thank Ka." Klairence says, kneeling by her as well. 

"Panicking won't help. Klairence, help me move her onto the blankets." Heven says, and commanding tone in his voice. Klairence can't help but be a little embarrassed at his previous incompetence.

"Right. Sorry." He says sheepishly. Heven lifts the girl up by the arms, and Klairence grabs her legs. Slowly and carefully they lay her down on the blankets set up in their little camp. Her chest rises and falls unevenly, worrying Klairence. Still, he can't help but stare at her horns and oddly shaped, satyr like legs. They are much more furry than the rest of her body. He turns to face Heven. "Do you think she'll be alright?"

"Yes, I believe she'll be fine," Heven says, breathing hard. "I'm no doctor, however. I just checked her pulse." Klairence looks down, wiping her messy brown hair out of her face. She has freckles that cover her cheeks, but not quite normal ones. These ones are large and a dark brown, contrasting on her tan fur. As Klairence looks at her, he realizes with horror that her fur is a little grayer. It's covered in ash. He then looks at her left arm, and notices a cut that stretches from her shoulder to elbow. He audibly gasps.

"Heven… look." He says, pointing to the injury. Heven's eyes go wide. 

"That... that is not good. At all. Klairence, do you have an bandages?" Heven asks. Klairence shakes his head. Heven mutters something under his breath, then dashes over to his bag, fishing out some cloth scraps. "These will have to do." He returns to her side, and hesitates over her arm, the cloth dangling out of his hands.

"Well? Can you wrap it up?" Klairence asks urgently. 

"I've never actually treated a wound before," Heven says, staring down at the rags in his hands. "I... I don't want to make it any worse." Klairence stands up, snatching the cloth from his hand and settling by the girl. Carefully, he wraps the cloth around her cut, pressing it into the wound. 

"This looks pretty bad... but I'll try." Klairence says, tying the cloth in a knot. The wrap is a little sloppy, but surprisingly effective. Klairence lets out a long breath he was holding. "There." 

They situate her to be more comfortable and then sit beside her. There's no way they could fall asleep now. "What...what do you think happened?" Klairence asks, looking nervously down at the girl. Heven holds his hands in his lap, preventing them from shaking.

"I have no idea. Something bad, I assume. We should be wary when she wakes up." Heven states, avoiding eye contact with Klairence. Klairence let's out a slight nod. They sit awhile longer, but she still doesn't stir. 

"I've never seen someone like her. She's a... manu, right?" Klairence asks. 

Heven nods. "Yes, she looks like a deer manu. What she's doing so far out of Clarenzia, I'm not sure." Just as Heven finishes speaking, she begins to move, her arm flinching a bit. Klairence jumps up, hand instinctively flying to his dagger. Heven calmly rises, taking a step back. The manu girl opens her eyes for a split second, before they fly shut again, as a cough escapes from her throat. She rises, sitting as upright as she can, still coughing. Klairence keeps his distance. He still doesn't know who this girl is. She could be dangerous. She continues to cough, but luckily no blood appears. Finally, her coughing slows, and she's able to properly open her eyes. 

"Uh... you alright?" Klairence asks awkwardly, taking his hand off of his dagger and slowly walking toward her, kneeling on the blanket. He isn't quite sure what to do. The manu girl takes a moment, blinking as she looks around. Then she notices Klairence, who is crouching beside her. She jumps back, terror in her eyes. "Woah, calm down!" Klairence shouts, a little too aggressively. He quickly recovers, outstretching his hand and smiling. Heven remains standing, watching over the whole exchange with hawk's eye. The girl does not take his hand. Instead, she holds it close to her chest, glaring at Klairence in suspicion.

"W-Who are you?" She asks, coughing as soon as the words escape her lips. She scooches back a little farther. 

"I'm Klairence. The aviatar is Heven. We're just some travelers. Who are you?" Klairence says, trying to keep his voice calm and steady. He isn't doing too well at this. The girl keeps her distance.

"Fana. My n-name is Fana." Fana says. "Where am I?" Heven steps forward.

"About halfway between Clarenzia and Apa. What are you doing out here, injured like that?" Heven says, pushing Klairence away and kneeling in front of Fana. He has much more intimidating air then Klairence did. Klairence sighs. Heven should've just let him work this out. Fana lets out another cough, and then a sigh of relief. She relaxes a bit, moving a little closer to Klairence and Heven.

"Oh thank Ka." She whispers, her tensed shoulders collapsing. Heven stops kneeling, deciding to properly sit on the blanket. Klairence takes that as a cue to join him, plopping down beside Heven on the thick woven blankets. Heven's wings are folded neatly behind his back, and he sits with the best posture Klairence has ever seen. 

"You didn't answer my question. What are you doing out here?" Heven says. Although he is trying to sound compassionate, it comes off as a bit demanding. Klairence shakes his head, and Fana swallows hard.

"It's all so fuzzy... there was something attacking, so I..I ran away and there was all this fire and-" Fana's eyes begin to fill with tears. She desperately tries to contain them, but they start to flow out of her soft brown eyes like a waterfall. "I dunno who made it out. I just kept running and... and..." She starts to full on sob, clutching the hem of her dress and scrunching it up in her clenched, ashen fists. Heven looks back at Klairence, unfortunately aware of the damage he just caused. Klairence simply glares at him. Klairence moves toward Fana, and Heven dutifully slides to the side, farther away from Fana. Fana can no longer seem to form words, and just cries, burying her hands in her face. Klairence places a hand on her back.

"Hey uh... it's alright. Just try and stay calm, I guess." Klairence says, trying to be as understanding as possible. "You're clearly injured, so we can help you over to a village or something." Fana begins to dry her tears. She coughs again, a horrible cough that wracks her whole body. She shudders.

"Ok. Ok. T-Thank you." She manages to say. She holds her arm out, wincing whenever she moves it. Her eyes then light up, raising her head in a quick motion that rattles her already throbbing head. "I have to get to the capital. They need to know what happened." 

"I don't think the government will care about a bandit raid on a village-" Klairence says before he is interrupted by a shaky Fana.

"No. It couldn't have been. It was Ishlak troops, I saw them," Fana says. Her expression scrunches up with confusion, as she struggles to recollect what appears to have just happened to her. "Yeah... yeah I saw them. T-The big flags." Heven's face suddenly goes pale.

"What's wrong with you, Heven?" Klairence asks, turning to Heven. 

"Ishlak… Ishlak has a treaty with Clarenzia. I know that, I've seen it. If Ishlak attacked a Clarenzian village, then that means they broke it." Heven says, muttering so that only Klairence can hear. Klairence turns his back on Fana, who is investigating a small burn on her neck.

"What're you saying?" 

"We have to get her to the capital. This is huge." Heven says, facing Klairence. His eyes are dead serious. Klairence sighs, grabbing Heven by the arm and pulling him out of ear range of Fana.

"Look. She seems pretty traumatized and probably a little... loony right now. We should just get her to the nearest village and then be on our way. She needs medical assistance, not us meddling around. This is none of our business." Klairence whispers. Heven shakes Klairence off of his arm, disgusted.

"Are you serious?! No way. This is possible war we're talking about. We have to get her to the capital! Besides, it might be dangerous for her to stay in an unknown village." Heven says. Klairence considers his options. He just wants to get to Halona, and get back home. This is already taking longer than he wants it to. He couldn't care less about the state of the governments and treaties; that's for leaders to deal with. He takes a deep breath, having made up his mind.

"Fine then. I'm going to the Port of Halona. You can go waste your time; I've got a goal. Klairence stands, turning away from Heven. "Don't worry about paying me. It's fine."

"What? No! You can't go, not now!" Heven stands, grabbing Klairence's hand. "We've got a huge issue on our hands! This is our responsibility now, we've got to do something to help here! And besides, having one more person to verify what Fana has said will really help. Please Klairence. Can't you just do this one thing to help me out? To help her out?" Klairence looks down, his shoulders sinking. That hurt. He feels very called out. Is he really being irresponsible? He's just looking out for himself. But as he looks at Heven's desperate face, as he looks at Fana still wiping the tears from her thick eyelashes, he realizes that this is a big deal. He could be useful for once in his life, he supposes. Klairence bites his lip, pulling his hand away from Heven.

"Fine." He says, looking straight down at the ground. "But on one condition." Heven looks at Klairence, confused.

"And what is that condition?" Heven asks, tilting his head. Klairence turns around, staring Heven right in his eyes. 

"You need to tell me exactly why you want to get to the Port of Halona."


	3. From the Sea to a Tree

"What?" Heven asks, looking right back at Klairence. "You want to know why I'm traveling?"

"Well yeah," Klairence says, sitting back down on the blanket. "You've been so secretive about it." 

Heven pauses, thinking for a moment. Finally, he shrugs. "Fine. I'll tell you. But later. Right now, we need to help Fana out." Heven says, going over to Fana, who has been nibbling on some stale bread she dug out of Klairence's bag. Klairence smiles. 

"Thank you for the food uh... what was your name again?" Fana says. 

"Klairence. I'm Klairence." 

"Right. Klairence. Thank you." Fana continues to nibble on the bread. She smiles at Klairence, but it's a sad smile. She stares down at the bread, clearly lacking an appetite. 

"How is your burn?" Heven asks. Fana shrugs.

"I-I'll be fine. Don't worry." She says. She looks down at the ground, her hair hiding most of her face. "Thank you so much." She mutters, a little quieter. Heven doesn't hear her, but Klairence does. He sits on the blanket beside her. 

"Don't worry about it. We're just trying to help out. We were headed to the Port of Halona anyway." Klairence says, reclining a bit. Fana fiddles with her fingers.

"Oh, Halona? Are you just going to send me off to a village, then?" She asks, trying not to let worry creep into her voice. Heven cuts off Klairence before he can say anything.

"No. We will be escorting you to the capital, as soon as we can." Heven states, as he grabs another blanket from his bag and lays it down on the ground. "Now, it is very late. We should all try to get some sleep. We will depart in the morning.  _ Early _ in the morning. " 

Klairence groans. "But-"

"No buts."

Klairence lays down, staring up at the stars through the lush trees. He lies awake, listening as both Fana and Heven drift off to sleep. He holds the necklace that still dangles from his neck, rubbing his finger over the smooth metal as he sighs, looking back up to the sky. He closes his eyes, drifting off to sleep, thoughts of Leyla and home on his mind. 

"Klairence! Wake up, Klairence!" Haven shouts. Klairence yawns, sitting up, his hair and demeanor equally disgruntled. 

"For the love of Ka, how early is it?" Klairence mutters, his words slurring in his tired state.

"Dawn!" Heven says cheerfully. "Now get up! We've got lots of ground to cover today!" Heven is way too energetic, considering it's about four in the morning. The sun is just beginning to rise, pink stretching across the dark blue skies. Klairence forces himself up, packing up the makeshift camp.

Klairence walks along the dirt path, yet another person standing beside him. This trip is quickly becoming quite the ordeal. He trudges along the path, shivering at the occasional far-too-early-in-the-morning breeze. Fana has a blanket wrapped around her, concealing her injured arm. Trees still tower around him, and he feels like they're walking in circles. The surroundings all look exactly the same. Clarenzia isn't exactly how he expected it to be.

Of course Klairence has heard of Clarenzia. Everyone has, at least in Apa. It's Apa's closest trade partner and ally. Klairence has heard the stories, of magical forests full of druids and manu. But so far all he's seen is a completely normal forest of trees. A hell of a lot of trees. Sure, trees are cool. But they aren't cool for days on end. Druids are supposed to be tree-people, or so Klairence has heard. He wonders if they're as dull as the trees themselves.

Some walking later, the group stumbles upon a stream cutting through the thick forest grass. The forest has slowly been consuming what little of the Apa landscape remained, leaving the ground covered by lush ferns and the sky encrouched with both leaves and the pines of thick evergreen trees. 

"Sweet! A stream. We should stop here." Klairence says, pointing to the stream. It shimmers in the sunlight that falls through the leaves. Klairence reaches out to touch it, expecting a rush of magical cool. Instead he feels bitter, icy cold. This water must've come from the mountains in Clarenzia, because oh boy is it frigid. He rips his hand back from the icy water. They kneel by the stream, filling up their leather and wood canteens with the fresh liquid. 

Klairence yawns as he places hooks his canteen onto his hip. "So Heven,"

"Yes?" Heven replies, sealing his canteen.

"You never told me what your so called 'quest' is." Klairence says. Fana, hears this and perks up, trotting over to where Klairence and Heven are chatting.

"Yeah, why are you going to Halona anyway?" Fana asks cheerily. She's been a lot happier, chatting with Klairence along the path. He's told her all about Leyla, Apa, and how he met Heven back in Manlin. She was captivated, and her mood seemed to greatly improve. However, he did avoid asking questions about her during their chats. He figures it's a rough subject.

"As I've said, I'm on something of a quest." Heven says, obviously beating around the bush. Klairence lightly pokes him with a stick he found on the ground. 

"Come on, you said you'd tell me." Klairence says, whining. 

Heven sighs. "I'm simply looking for a family artifact. A crown, to be specific. I was hoping I could find some sort of clue in the Port of Halona." Klairence blinks, obviously not impressed.

"Really? That's it?" Klairence squints at Heven. "Then what was it with all of your weird secrecy?"

"It's a family thing. My dad would kill me if he knew I was out looking for the family heirloom." Heven says. "What'd you think I was doing?"

"I dunno, something more exciting than that." Klairence says, shrugging. He turns away from Heven, disappointed. He meets a rich aviatar from the capitol and all he's doing is looking for some family heirloom? How dull. 

"I think that's pretty cool." Fana informs Heven, taking her place at Klairence's right. She's a good inch or so shorter than them, but not any younger. Only sixteen, she says. "It must be old."

"Oh yes, very old! In fact, it's supposed to be from as early as the third era! Our family, the Aramat family, earned it from duel to the death centuries ago against-" 

"No. We are not doing your whole history-spiel thing again." Klairence says, stepping in front of Heven to interrupt him. He then whispers to Fana, "Believe me, you don't want to hear about his family crest and history and stuff. He could talk about it for hours. And he will." Fana nods in understanding. Heven crosses his arms, huffing in annoyance.

"It's your loss if you don't want to hear about the fascinating history of one of Apa's founding families." Heven proclaims. Klairence rolls his eyes, in mostly mock annoyance. He smiles at Heven, and Heven smiles back. 

"Now, let's get going. Farse is still a few days travel." Heven says. 

Klairence looks at him funny. "I thought you said we were going to the-"

"Farse is the capital of Clarenzia. Now, let's go!" Heven says cheerily, beginning down the path. He's gotten used to correcting Klairence on geography and other such things, and it's become less of a bother to him.

"How's you arm doing, Fana?" Klairence asks. Fana gives him a little smile.

"Good, actually. It doesn't hurt as much when I move it now." Still, she holds it in her other arm. Klairence understands. It's a pretty deep wound. Just like before.

Leyla was lying on the ground, crying. A huge gash in her leg. She had fallen off of a tree, or so she claimed. But Klairence knew what she was actually doing. Trying to fly. He had used a kitchen cloth to wrap up her wound, carrying her all the way home, where his mom was nervously awaiting. He got real bandages, tying up the gash in the way his dad had taught him to. Pressing down on it to prevent bleeding. His mom tried to help, but he wouldn't let her. He was still so mad. At that time, it had been two years. Two years since dad died, and two years since she had gotten sick. She still was sick. And Klairence was only twelve, not understanding that she was sick in her mind, not just her body. Leyla was so little, Klairence so young, and their whole family just trying to get by with one adult. That year Klairence went to work to make money. It was on that day, that year that Klairence realized he didn't have any help. Not from his mom, not from the aviatars in the village, not from the government. He was, essentially, alone.

He laid her down in the bed, helping her fall asleep. He was responsible for her, of course, as he had been for awhile. But he was still angry about everything. His mom went to sleep, up in her room as always. She spent a lot of time in there, asleep. At the time Klairence thought she was lazy. He thought she didn't care. Until the next morning, when he heard her crying in the room. When he entered and asked her about it. She just cried. She was so sorry that she couldn't take care of him, or of Leyla. Klairence flet awful. Then again, it was just another layer of awful on top of every other awful feeling he had in his head. That wasn't a good year for him. But it was ok. Because he's always had his family, and they've always been his friends. His only friends of course.

Sometimes, though, he felt alone. More alone than normal. A numbing kind of alone.

"Klairence, did you see that?" Heven says, snapping Klairence out of his dark memory. 

"Uh, what?" Klairence asks, looking around for what Heven is talking about. 

"I thought I just saw someone flying overhead, but their wings looked- oh nevermind. Probably just an aviatar." Heven says. Klairence shrugs, brushing it off. Fana hardly notices. Klairence looks over to Heven, but worry still seems to fill Heven's eyes...

"What does Farse even look like?" Klairence asks, trying to distract Heven with an opportunity to put all those years of useless studying to use. Heven, of course, takes the bait.

"Why, it's a massive tree! A miracle of architecture, really. You know it was back in the second era when..." Heven talked for a very, very long time. And for once, Klairence didn't mind.

It took days, although Klairence isn't sure how many. Passing through villages, paying for food with Heven's seemingly endless supply of cash. Every place they pass, Klairence is left speechless. So many types of manu, he can't even comprehend. Every type of animal he could think of, from rabbits to wolves, from hogs to foxes, and so many more. And so many types of druids, too. Some who looked so much like a human he thought they were one, compared to others who were almost completely covered in pale bark, with sharp pointy ears and vibrantly colored hair. Fana and Heven, however, were unimpressed with the diversity. Fana's lived here and Heven's probably visited. It seems like he's visited everywhere.

Nobody's quite sure why the manu and druids are so in sync. Of course, each kingdom's got their theories, and their religions. The manu and druids believe in gods and goddesses of divinity, creating everything. Aviatars have Ka. Humans, well, humans don't have much. Something called "God" from the very, very old days. Back when humans weren't so... endangered. Back when they had enough tools to actually put up a fight against the other races. But it hasn't been like that for a very, very long time. All anyone really knows for sure is that manu and druids have always lived together. They've always married each other, and they've always gotten along. In Clarenzia, too. Heven said Clarenzia is the oldest kingdom. Makes sense to Klairence. It's got to take centuries for a tree big enough to hold a whole city to grow.

Before long, they had made it. To the capital. Or at least, Klairence thinks it is, since typically there aren't trees taller than any building he had ever seen. Or any building that could reasonably exist. It rises above the forest, with houses carved into the bark and dangling off of the hundreds of branches. Druids leap from branch to branch, while manu wander amongst the massive city spread across the tree's huge roots. The rest of Clarenzia's villages are normal but this... it's something else. Klairence thinks he might faint from the shock. For once, Fana and Heven stare in awe alongside him. They continue walking, as the path spreads to encompass the increasing number of people. But it isn't just manu and druids who rush about. Klairence sees aviatars flying above, humans wandering around, and occasionally a salskin peeking their head out of a pond, scales glistening in the sunlight filtered from the massive tree. 

"This... this is incredible." Klairence says, wonder filling his almond eyes. Heven beams.

"I told you. Giant tree. You didn't believe me when I said it was the largest living thing in Inara.' Klairence couldn't care less that Heven is yet again annoyingly correct. He, like Fana, is captivated by the sheer size of the tree, and the city sprawled beneath it. Fana steps in front of him.

"It's... so pretty." Fana says, tears filling her eyes. Klairence looks back at her as a tear falls down her cheek. Sure, it was incredibly, but certainly not tear-worthy. He shrugs it off, figuring she's just sensitive, nothing more. She wipes the tear from her face and walks ahead of Heven, practically floating into the expansive city resting on the roots. 

As they walk into the city, Klairence finds himself wanting to plug his ears. Heven smiles as he walks along, casually greeting those he passes. Fana dashes around excitedly, her face lit up as she investigates every ware being sold at every market stall, every gourd looking proch in front of every house. But it is so loud, too loud for Klairence. So many people in just one place, he feels his head might burst.  _ Is that what Ilip is like?  _ He thinks, trying to block out the shouting of merchants. If it is, he isn't quite sure if his dreams of someday living in the floating city are quite so realistic. The noise is so much for him to bear. Heven looks over, noticing Klairence's pained expression.

"Are you okay, Klairence?" Klairence tries his best to smile, not wanting to worry Heven or distract Fana.

"Yeah, it's just very... loud." He mutters. Fana is far ahead, speaking with a small deer manu. She's beaming. Klairence smiles too, the noise fading for once. She seems happy.

"This is what city's are like. They never rest." Heven says. He, unlike Klairence, is smiling widely, enjoying the noise. It must remind him of the bustle of Ilip. But then he turns back to Klairence, seriousness drawn across his face. "However, we need to get an audience at the palace. We are not here to sightsee, if you remember." Klairence nods, putting on a serious face to match Heven's tone. 

"Where is the palace?" Klairence asks. Heven points up to the top of the tree. "Annnd how am I supposed to get up there?" Heven points to stairs. A lot of stairs. Like, hundreds of stairs. Uneven, wooden, leg-pain inducing stairs. Klairence groans. "Oh for the love of Ka!"


	4. The Totally Not Suspicious Trio

So. Many. Stairs. Klairence thinks he is going to die. For real, actually going to just lie down and die, never even making it halfway up these stairs. While a city in a tree sounds great in theory, when only 5% of people living there can fly, it is not so great. Klairence realizes why so many people live in the city at the  _ bottom  _ of the tree. Because the stairs are a never-ending hellish nightmare. 

"Heven can you please just fly us up there. I know it's hard but  _ please.  _ I'm actually begging you. I'm going to die." Klairence complains as he drags his feet up the stairs.

"You are not going to die." Heven states.

"I'm going to die, so  _ please _ just fly us up there."

"It is generally frowned upon for aviatars to fly for convenience in Clarenzia, especially around Farse. We can be like everyone else and just walk up the stairs." Heven says, crossing his arms. Klairence groans, stomping as he ascends each stair in an overdramatic protest. They continue to trudge up the many, many stairs to come.

After what felt like an eternity, but was probably only about half an hour, they reach the top of the tree. The palace. And oh boy is it a sight to behold. A wide staircase of oak carved into the tree itself leads up to a large, intricately carved gate. Behind it is a wide and shallow palace of wood, with large open windows and dangling lights that seem to be made of flowers illuminating the gorgeous structure. The main hall appears to have no roof, and is instead covered by the canopy of leaves the massive tree provides. However, the group of trevelers are not alone as they stand on the stairs. People rush about behind them, most likely palace staff and higher-ups. They stare at the three funnily. They are an odd trio, especially to be up in the palace.

As they approach the gate, Heven steps in front of the group. Two guards, decorated in light purple robes and covered in a silver helmet stop them.

"No civilians in the palace, please." One guard says, blocking Heven from stepping forward with their spear. "The monarchs are not open for an audience currently." Heven stands, perfecting his posture and clearing his throat. 

"Well then, I  _ request _ an audience with the monarchs, please. We have an eye-witness to an Ishlak attack on a village." Heven says in his most professional voice. He looks, and sounds, like he's a good decade older than he really is. He moves aside as Fana steps forward, identifying herself as the witness. The guard stares them down.

"If this is a prank or a dare, it isn't going to work. Attempting to sneak into the palace is a criminal offense, mind you." The guard says. Heven looks at Klairence, annoyance painted on his face.

"What do you mean? This is serious business we have. Why-" Heven trys to speak, but Fana gently pushes him aside, interrupting him. She stands in front of the guard, bowing her head.

"Please. My village... it's gone. I think I'm the only one who made it out. I-I have to help somehow." She continues to look down to the ground, her hands clasped together as she desperately tries to keep them from shaking. The guard steps away, a little taken aback. 

"I..." They guard pauses, then sighs, looking over to their partner. The other guard nods. "Against my usual protocol, I will let you through, and alert the queen. Do  _ not  _ cause any trouble. Understood?" Klairence breaths a sigh of relief. Fana looks up, stepping back.

Heven smiles, and easy and calm smile, as if their was no doubt in his mind that they would make it in. "Thank you. I can assure that we will not cause any issues." The guards move their spears, and the three enter the hall. 

If Klairence had to describe the main hall of the Palace, he would describe it as open. Everything about it is open. There's no ceiling, just leaves of green, pink, and lavender that cover the sweeping arches of wood. Nearly every wall is covered in expansive glass, most with intricate patterns of nature engraved into it's sparkling surface. Klairence stares around in awe, captivated by the sheer amount of natural light flowing into the place, and the aroma's that float around from blossom's that occasionally float onto the wood and stone floors. 

An advisor and a guard stand by a table in the center of the room, discussing something. The advisor looks up as he notices the somewhat suspicious trio enter the room. He holds his hand up to silence the guard, walking over haughtily to address the group.

"Excuse me, what are you children doing here?" He asks, his voice sharp and annoyingly high pitched. He is a druid from the looks of it, with pointed ears and light tan skin. His face is long and sharp, as well as rather unattractive in nature. Patches of bark cover his wrists, and the rest of his body is hidden under a formal tunic and light purple robes that cascade around his unnaturally lanky body. The clothes, despite being high-quality, look like rags drapped across the body of a starving beggar when on this man. His deep brown hair is neatly cut and trimmed, although it has a leaf-like texture. He is tall and oddly thin, rising above even Heven. The guard who had let them into the palace steps forward to speak with the advisor.

"They have requested an audience with a monarch. Claim they have a witness to an Ishlak attack on a village." The guard says. The advisor nods, his sharp chin jutted out towards the group.

"Of course. You three, have a seat. I will go fetch-" Just as he is about to finish, a woman steps out from a door beside the four thrones located at the head of the hall. She is beautiful. She has dark skin, and bark covering her neck. She sweeps elegantly into the throne room, her deep green and silken dress flowing behind her. It has patterns of gold woven into it, and shawl of elegant and opaque black rests on her broad shoulders. She has golden jewelry dangling from her neck, and a woven band with a glittering diamond dangling off of it resting on her forehead. Her eyes are narrow and a deep green, matching her green hair that reaches the bottom of her back. A young handmaiden flanks her.

Everyone in the room freezes, getting down on one knee as she enters the space. Heven and Fana recognize her immediately, but it takes Klairence a moment to realize just who has come into the space. Quickly, he falls to one knee lowering his head. The woman sweeps a pointy and elegant hand up, and everyone in the room rises, resuming their business, although with much more vigor than before she had entered. The advisor rushes over to her side like a child drawn towards candy.

"Your majesty! Wonderful timing. A few teenagers have come with news of an attack on one of our villages." The queen turns, noticing the trio for the firs time. She nods once, and then glides over to one of the four thrones at the head of the room, carefully sitting down. She rests her arm on the shimmering wooden throne with an effortless sort of relaxed poise.

"Yes, of course. Step forward, children. Oh, and Gerise?" She says, her voice low and soothing.

"Yes, your majesty?" The advisor, whose name is presumably Gerise, replies eagerly. 

"Please let the guards know that I am opening court. Do not worry, I have cleared this with the others." She says with a wave of her hand. Gerise quickly bows, and then rushes off. Klairence assumes that by others she means the three who must reside in the thrones beside her. Klairence stands, frozen in the hall. He has never been this close to royalty before, and he never thought he would be. He finds his heartrate racing as he stares at the queen. He tries to step forward, to do anything, but his body refuses to move. He simply remains standing, staring off into space, like a bumbling idiot. Heven, however, has long overcome the fear of addressing higher-ups. He steps forward, bowing in front of the throne.

"Thank you, your majesty. This human and I had been traveling when we stumbled upon the young lady here. Her village was attacked." Heven says, encouraging Fana to step forward. She approaches the throne timidly.

Fana stands before the queen, explaining what happened. Apparently her village had been attacked at night, with karano soldiers invading and burning their houses. She is the only person that she knows of who made it out. The queen listens intently, considering what to do.

"And you are sure this was the action of the Ishlak government?" She asks as Fana finishes. Fana nods.

"Yes. I'm sure." The queen sits, pondering for a moment, her long and pale fingernail tapping her chin.

"Thank you. This is... disturbing news. I will have to discuss it with my fellow rulers. For now, I thank you for making the journey here. I will insure that Gerise compensates you for your contribution. All three of you." She says. And that is that. The three bow, and then hastily make their exit. Gerise plops a bag of coins into Fana's hand, avoiding any contact with her or Klairence. Klairence glares at him. Stupid uppity nobles. 

Klairence lets out a long sigh as he walks away from the hall. That was done with. Now, he can finally get back on track. But as he leaves, he notices a figure standing in a doorway beside the thrones, who appeared to have been listening. As soon as he sees it, it disappears back through the door, its cape of black disappearing beyond the curve of the doorway.  _ Huh, weird _ . Klairence thinks. 

They exit the palace and are left standing on the stairs. People continue to rush about them, but it's all become a background blur to Klairence. He feels oddly numb and sad. Like, that was it? A whole village, gone, and that is how the queen reacted. He sits down on the stairs and swallows, his spit tasting bitter. Fana sits beside him, and he realizes how horrible she must be feeling.

"Well... what do we do now?" Klairence says, looking up at Heven. Heven is staring off into the sky. 

"I suppose we continue on our way to Halona. We did all we could." Heven says. Klairence looks at Fana, who is sitting beside him. Her eyes look blank and tired.

"What do I do?" She asks, so quiet Klairence can barely hear her. 

"What?" Heven asks, turning to Fana.

"I-I don't know what I should do." Fana says, a little louder. She stares away, not looking at anything in particular. "They're all gone... I've got nowhere to go." A horrible feeling settles into Klairence's stomach. Heven looks down guilty. It's neither of their faults, and they know this, but they still can't shake the guilty feelings. 

After a few moments, Klairence breaks the sad silence. "You could come with us." Fana looks up at him, a little bit of the bleakness fading from her eyes.

"What do you mean?" She asks.

"Heven and I, we're going to the Port of Halona. You could come with us." Klairence suggests, shrugging. "It'll keep you occupied, at least for awhile." Heven nods.

"Yes, you could accompany us. If you choose to."

Fana sits, thinking. She looks up at Klairence, a new light filling her eyes. "Yeah... yeah. I think I'd like that." She sniffles a little and then stands. "I'll come with you." Heven smiles at her. 

"Well then, it's getting late. Let's settle for the night. I'll pay for dinner."

"I've got some money so-" Heven shushes Klairence.

"Don't worry about it. It's my treat."


	5. A Stupid Crown

"NO! I REFUSE!" Klairence shouts, a little too loudly. A few passerby's turn their heads, but quickly return to their buisness. "I will NOT go down those stairs. NO. I am tired. We can just pay for the expensive inn. Hell, I'll even pay for it. But I absolutely refuse to go down those stairs of death until I have sleep.  _ Real _ sleep. Not 'let's sleep on the forest floor and get up at sunrise' sleep." 

Heven sighs at Klairence's complaints, facepalming. "Fine. We can stay at an inn in one of the branches. Just quiet down." They head down a small portion of stairs to reach one of the nicer inns. Heven pays for the food and their night's stay, of course. His politeness and dignity prevents him from doing otherwise. All three sit in a small table, nestled in the corner of the inn's first floor. They chat amongst themselves and intend to do so the whole night, until a girl approaches them. She looks about the same age as Fana, and is a druid. She has dark skin, and bark patches on her arms, although the most prominent one is a dark patch of bark on her upper forehead. She wears nicer dress, with a green string woven through it and embroidered into little flowery patterns. She wears light purple bangles and woven sandals. Her hair is a light green, and it is braided down her back. She approaches the table, smiling. Heven looks up at her.

"Uhm… excuse me?" She asks, standing at the edge of the little round table. Fana looks up at her, staring. Klairence sneaks a side glance at Fana and notices a small blush creeping onto her cheeks. 

"Yes?" Heven replies, addressing the druid.

"There are no other seats left. Can I sit here?" She says, gesturing around to the bustling inn, and then to the empty chair by Fana. Heven furrows his brows. 

"Well, I-"

"Yes." Fana blurts. Her cheeks turn red. "I-I mean, yes, you can sit here. We don't mind." The girl smiles, plopping down casually into the seat next to Fana. 

"Thanks!" She says cheerily, reclining in the little wooden chair. Fana quickly brushes a stray lock of hair out of her face and straightens her posture. 

"So, uhm, what's your name?" Fana asks.

"Junip… June. My name is June." She says, stuttering over the words. Heven glares at the girl with suspicion, but she doesn't notice. 

"Really? What a pretty name. I'm, uh, Fana."

"Nice to meet you, Fana." She speaks casually, but Klairence can't help but notice something is off. The way she spoke to Fana, and how she speaks in general. It's the way Heven talks, clear and articulated. This is a rich neighborhood, though. He has to keep that in mind. 

"Do you guys live here?" June asks, sitting up in her chair. 

"No, we are currently traveling the The Port of Halona. We had a small, ahem, detour here." Heven says, glancing at Fana. "But that is alright." 

"So you guys are travelers? Where have you been? Where are you from? Why are you going to Halona?" She begins to pelt them with questions, and Heven, who just loves the sound of his own voice, obliges in answering all of them. His tales are not all that interesting, especially to Klairence, but June seems enthralled, as she listens intently with wide eyes. A bartender brings out their food, and the four eat. Klairence takes a bite out of the warm bread, looking around. He realizes that, for once, he's happy. Really happy. He hasn't felt like this since... well since his father passed away. He actually has friends. He stares down at his roll, his smile fading. After they get to Halona it'll be over. Fana will go have her life. Heven will go find his crown. And Klairence, well, he'll go home to. With the money to give a better life to Leyla. Despite this, he still feels a knowing sadness at the thought of leaving Heven behind. 

"A crown? That's an odd family heirloom." June says, bringing Klairence back into the conversation.

"Yes. It was lost a few decades ago, but has been in our family for generations, since the third era." June pauses, thinking. 

"You know, the royal family had a crown like that once, I think. Big and silver, right? With small gems encrusted into it? Long and pointy?" June uses her hands to show the shape of the object. Heven stares at her funny.

"Yes, exactly like that..." He slows, digging through his bag. He pulls out a piece of rolled parchment, unraveling it to reveal a picture of a crown that matches June's description perfectly. There's some writing beneath it on the paper. He shows it to June. June lights up.

"That one! I've seen a picture of that before, back in the library, when my mom had me study..." Her words fade as she realizes Heven, Klairence, and Fana are all staring. Her heart starts to beat faster.

"Why would a towngirl have seen a picture of a crown like this in a library?" Heven asks, speaking slowly. "It's not exactly well known." June's heart starts to race, and her eyes dart around the room. 

"Well, I uh... uhm…" Her mind has gone blank. Heven stares at her a moment longer, and then he moves back, eyes wide.

"Wait... when you introduced yourself you said... are you Juniper?  _ Princess  _ Juniper?" Heven asks. Klairence's jaw drops, and Fana gasps. Juniper stands up.

"Shhhh, not so loud! Keep it down!" She says frantically, glancing around the inn to see if anyone heard. However, it is far too busy for anyone to notice. She sits back down, letting out a long sigh. "Yes, I'm Juniper." Klairence sits in awe. He had just been talking, casually chatting with royalty.  _ Royalty _ . He is absolutely shocked. "I just have to get out of the palace sometimes, ok? I like coming here. I get to hear lots of stories." Heven, unlike Klairence and Fana, has already overcome his shock. He nods in understanding.

"Of course. There must be a lot of pressure in the palace. Court can be a stressful environment, I know." Heven says. "My father is a member of Apa's high court. I get it." Juniper smiles a little. 

"Really? That's nice to hear. I overheard you in the hall, talking with my mom. I hope she didn't come off as too insensitive." Juniper twirls her hair with her finger. "She's really nice but... well, she's been the druid queen a long time, and it can really wear down a person's empathy. She cares, I promise, she's just good at hiding it," Juniper looks at the table, muttering. " _ Really _ good at hiding it." 

"It's ok." Fana says, very softly. She avoids eye contact with Juniper. Juniper turns to Fana, looking concerned. 

"Are you sure? You just seem so..." Juniper stops talking unsure of what to say. Fana looks up and smiles, an honest and heartbreaking smile. 

"Really, it's ok. She seemed very kind. And so do you." Fana says, finally talking at a normal volume. Juniper, relived, smiles back.

"Oh, good." Juniper turns back to Heven. "About that crown though. My mom said that we had a crown like that for some of fifth era. I think. History is so boring. I never pay attention." Heven leans in, listening intently.

"Do you know what happened to it?" Heven asks. Juniper thinks.

"Well, it might've..." Juniper begins. But then she stops. "I could go home, study a little, and bring back some information for you on it, to be sure." 

"Really? You would do that? Oh thank-" Heven tried to speak, but was interrupted by Junipers clear voice.

"But, you have to do something for me."

"What is it?"

"You've got to take me along with you to find this crown." Juniper says. Heven stares for a moment, and then raises his voice.

"What?! You want to come find it too?! Why! What! I could never-" Heven bursts, shouting about. Klairence shrinks into his chair. Heven's usually pretty calm, or at least calmer than this. Juniper rolls her eyes, immune to Heven's burst of frustration.

"Listen. I never get to do anything. This sounds like so much fun! And besides, I wouldn't be gone  _ that  _ long." She says, acting like this is no big deal. Heven continues to freak out. It's a big deal, or at least it must be to him. "I'll leave my mom a note, go find this crown, and boom! We're done. Easy peasy."

"No way!" Heven lowers his voice. "Do you realize how much trouble we could get in for helping a royal run away on some dangerous adventure. Lot's of trouble! HUGE trouble!" Heven sighs, and sinks down into his chair. Somehow the chatter of the inn manages to cover Heven's outburst.

"I hate to say this, but he's right." Klairence says. "As much as it'd be fun to have you along, I would rather not rot in a jail cell for the rest of my life."

"But... I mean... there's got to be some way, right? Everyone deserves a little break. Trip's can be...fun." Fana chimes in, looking at Juniper. 

"I promise, I will vouch for you if we get caught. But there's a whole chapter in a book on that crown, and if you want to find it, I can help. You have just got to let me come with you." Juniper pleads. Heven sighs, thinking for a moment.

"Alright. You can come." Juniper jumps up, beaming.

"Yay! Thank you so much! I promise I'll find you some stuff on the crown. I'll meet you here in the morning okay bye!" She says at hyper speed, before dashing out of the inn. Klairence glances at Heven.

"All this trouble for a stupid crown?" Klairence asks, eyeing Heven. Heven sighs, laying his head down on the table.

"Yep. All this trouble for a stupid crown."


	6. The Dova

Klairence stands out in the cool morning air. He doesn't know why Heven insisted on being ready this early in the morning. He shivers, pulling the oversized jacket Heven gave him closer around his chest. Fana stands nearby, unbothered by the cold. He figures her fur must be a pretty good jacket. A figure approaches them, in a black cloak. Heven turns to face them.

"Hello, Juniper." He says cheerfully, greeting her. Juniper removes her hood, smiling. 

"Good morning!" She says, although not too loudly. She's wearing a simple tunic today, and her hair falls out of a messy bun instead of yesterday's fancy braid. She has tall, knee high boots fastened on her long legs. She pulls two books out of her cloak, handing them to Heven.

"I did some digging last night, and found these books that mention the crown. I hope they're helpful." Heven takes the books, investigating their covers. Carefully, he places them in his bag before slinging it over his shoulder. 

"Thank you. I'll take a look at these tonight. However, it's best we get going now, before the rest of the city wakes up." Klairence nods, taking his place beside Heven. The four begin to walk away, at a steady pace. Klairence takes in the city one last time, surveying the nearly empty streets. The palace, the lights, the man in the alley. He pauses, doing a double take. Why would there be someone in the alley. He glances at it again, and nothing is there. But he swore he saw someone, someone very tall. With wings and... no. Klairence shakes his head. The early morning light must've been playing tricks on him. He runs forward, rejoining the group as the trudge down the stairs.

"Why do you want to find this crown so much, anyway?" Juniper asks an hour or so later. The city is long behind them, and Klairence is back to walking on a wide dirt path through the endless woods. 

"I already told you. It's a family heirloom." Heven replies.

"If your family wants this heirloom, shouldn't they have sent some adult to track it down?" This girl asks too many questions for her own good. Heven sighs.

"I... have taken it upon myself to find it."

"Why?" Juniper asks, oblivious to the not so subtle hints Heven has been giving to show he doesn't really want to talk about it.

"Juniper, maybe he doesn't want to say why." Klairence says, placing his hand on her back.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't-"

"No. I can tell you. It is not a big deal, really," Heven interrupts, shrugging. "I am the middle child of five, with three brothers and one sister. Obviously, only one of us can inherit the council chair that my father currently holds, and since he is getting old there is a bit of...tension." Klairence listens intently. Heven hasn't told him about this part of his story yet. "My older brother tried to find this artifact when he was seventeen, but he failed. I figured, that if I could find it, then I could have a real shot at being a part of Apa's council." Heven looks down, a little ashamed. "It's a selfish thing to do, but I feel as though I'm out of options." There is a pause of silence.

"Well that's just stupid." Klairence says, catching the attention of everyone else. They all stare at him blankly, as if he'd just said the unfathomable. He shrugs. "What? It is. Families love you no matter what. Or at least they should." He pauses, looking right at Heven. "You don't need to prove yourself." Heven stares at Klairence.

"I... I do. I need to do something, otherwise I'm going to end up calculating our profits or something. I want to contribute, be more like my brother." He says, shaking off Klairence's comment. "I'm going to get this crown, Klairence." Klairence doesn't understand why he thinks he needs some crown, but he has enough of a filter to not blur this comment out loud.

Klairence speaks again. "If you think you need it, go ahead. I'll help you find it." Then he smirks a little. "You're the one paying me after all, right?" Heven laughs a little.

"Don't worry, I haven't forgotten." Heven looks just a little bit better. This makes Klairence smile too. 

The day goes by. Talking and walking, with nothing eventful between. The stars have come out, and all four travelers are sitting by a fire. Klairence sharpens his dagger as Heven flips through the books, intently reading.

"So then I was stuck cleaning the whole dining room until my mom realized I wasn't actually a servant!" Juniper exclaims, finishing a story. Fana laughs. 

"That's priceless, Juniper." Fana says, grinning. Juniper blushes a little, turning her head away. "It must be so nice, living in a palace." 

"Yeah, it really is. It can feel a little small sometimes but it's ok. Marven's always there to chat with me." 

"He's the manu prince, right? I heard he's a wolf." Fana says. "I've never met a wolf manu before."

"Oh, they're not so different. He's nice and all, I just... oh nevermind." Juniper's face falls a bit. Fana places her hand on Juniper's. 

"Don't worry about it. You... you wanted a break from the palace right? Why don't you tell me about the stars. Y-You said you got to study them." Fana tells Juniper. Juniper eagerly starts to explain.

"Now, see those stars? They make the Junilopi constellation. There's Ufray, Ka's symbol, and that is... what was that?" Juniper suddenly stops, pointing at the sky.

"What is it?" Fana asks. Klairence looks up from his dagger.

"Nothing, I just thought I saw-"

"Juniper, did you read these books?" Heven asks, interrupting her. Juniper stands, walking over to the stump Heven is sitting on.

"No, I had to get out of the castle fast. Why?" Fana joins them, and Klairence puts down his dagger, looking up and paying attention. 

"Look, here." Heven says, pointing at the page. Juniper looks over his shoulder, muttering the words under her breath, and then freezing up. 

"What is it?" Klairence asks, standing and crowding by Heven as well. 

"It says here that this is the Crown of Kilimas." Heven says, shuddering. 

"Annnd... why is that bad?" Klairence peers over Heven's shoulder. 

"Kilimas," Heven begins, flipping the book around so Klairence can see, "was the first Dova king." 

Klairence's face turns pale. "Dova?! Seriously?!" Heven nods. He sets the book on the ground so all four of them can look at the picture of Kilimas. It's scary, to say the least. The image shows a tall man sitting on a throne. He has demonic horns, claws, and scales covering half of his body. Huge black wings emerge from his back, wings that look like those of a dragon. He is perched on a sketched out throne, the crown resting menacingly on his head. Klairence has barely heard of the dova. They live in Dovgarde, completely shut off from the rest of Inara. They don't trade, they don't have treaties- Klairence is pretty sure even Heven has never seen one. The Dova haven't left their kingdom in decades, maybe even centuries. They're terrifying. Klairence has heard tales of their dark magic, but he hasn't believed in that since he was a little kid. But what if..?

Fana shakes a little. "Heven, I'm starting to think maybe-" Just then, Klairence hears something. A rustling noise. He grabs his dagger off of the ground, crouching low. He clutches the dagger, surveying the area. Heven pulls his sword of its hilt, holding it steady in front of him.

"Who's there!" Heven shouts. Juniper stands alert, as Fana clutches Juniper's hand. Silence hangs in the air. It could be like with Fana. All this tension could be for nothing. But Klairence can feel it, that something in the air. A uneasy feeling down in the pit of his stomach. No, this is different. Something's wrong. They aren't safe. The seconds drag by, and then there's a sound. The sound of a swoop, before something shoves Klairence's face into the dirt.

Sound blurs away as he feels something sharp digging into his back. He reaches his arm up, trying to stab whatever has ambushed him. His dagger hits, and he hears something cry out in pain as the sharp pain in his own back subsides. He rolls to the side, spitting out dirt. Looking up he sees someone standing there. A dova. For a moment, he forgets to breath. The dova is huge. Tall, broad, with claws on his hands and feet. He's wearing a black uniform, and a hood over his head. He has expansive wings, slightly larger than Heven's, that are a scaly black and violet. His deep blue eyes glint under the hood. 

Klairence scrambles to get up, adrenaline pumping through his veins. He doesn't have time to look for Fana, Juniper, or Heven, since the dova launches onto him yet again. Klairence smoothly ducks, dodging the blow and sliding to the side. He winces. His back aches. He swallows his pain and stands, clutching his dagger. Sweat drips down his face. Looking at the dova, he realizes right away that he doesn't stand a chance. This man is full grown, and at least two feet taller than Klairence, with a full sized sword and claws to boot. Klairence grits his teeth and runs, scrambling up the nearest tree. The dova leaps up, his wings beating in an eerily silent fashion as he hovers around the tree. Klairence perches on the branch, concealing himself as best he can with leaves and the dark of night. The dova turns around, and Klairence uses this opening to launch the dagger.

The dagger flies from his hand, shooting into the darkness of the night. While it doesn't hit exactly where he was hoping, the dagger does graze the dova's side, forcing him to descend to the ground, hitting it with a thump. Klairence leaps down from the tree, sprinting to his dagger as it juts out of the ground, gleaming in the pale and fading moonlight. He snatches it up, the worn handle fitting comfortably in his fingers. However, he has little time to rest. The dova has recovered and easily swoops over to Klairence. Klairence barely has enough time to react. He drops down and rolls away, but not before the dova's claws pierce his face. Klairence curses, wiping his cheek. Blood is smeared on the back of his hand. Behind him, Heven and Juniper are dealing with two more dova soldiers.

Heven holds his sword out in a casual stance. It's finally time to put all that training to use. As he stares down his opponent, he considers his options. Offensive or defensive? Left or right? Improvised? Traditional? The strategies flow through his head. However, his train of thought is interrupted by Juniper running out from behind him, brandishing a large stick. She yells, running towards the dova, and, with a flamboyant leap, slams the branch down on the attackers head. The dova, having no idea Juniper even existed, is taken completely off guard and falls to the ground, unconscious. Heven stands, momentarily stunned, as Juniper regains her balance. She's breathing heavily, her chest rising unsteadily. She turns to face Heven, who hasn't moved. To his surprise, she's beaming, looking down proudly at the fallen dova.

Juniper struts over to Heven, slinging the massive stick behind her back. "You alright?" Heven nods slowly, still somewhat shocked. "Where's Fana?" Heven shrugs, recovering as he stands normally again. Heven then notices Klairence, facing off with another dova soldier, and dashes off to help him. 

Klairence swallows hard, nervously eyeing the dova's sword. It is sharp.  _ Very  _ sharp. Would not be pleasant if lodged in his stomach. The dova suddenly lowers his sword pointing it to the ground. 

"I'm not a big fan of killing children." The dova says, shocking Klairence a little. His voice is low and gravely, sending chills through Klairence's spine. He takes a clawed hand and carefully flips off the hood of his cloak. His hair billows meanacingly in the nighttime breeze. "But we've got direct orders. I'll give you the option. Don't go looking for that crown. You promise not to do that, I'll consider letting you go." Klairence relaxes for a moment. It's a tempting offer, that's for sure. It's just a trinket. Heven would learn to let go. Why does a crown matter that much, anyway? And then he stops. Why  _ does _ a crown matter this much? So much that these dova have direct orders from, well, someone, to kill a bunch of children. No, something is off here. Klairence's face hardens. He's not giving up this easily. The dova, somehow seeing Klairence's reaction through the dark of night, frowns.

"I'll take your silence as a no. Too bad." He raises his glinting sword. "I was hoping I could let someone go alive tonight." Klairence braces himself. But then, out of the dark. Heven leaps in. His sword streaks through the air, a silvery blade of death. The dova notices, ducking just in time. Heven's sword slices through his hair, and a few violet pieces fly off the dova's head drift to the ground. Heven hits the ground, managing to land on his feet. He recovers, hand twitching around the handle of his shimmering, moonlit sword. Blood drips down Klairence's face, but he hardly notices. The dova grits his teeth, looking back and forth between Klairence and Heven. With a low  _ tsk _ , he flies up into the sky, dipping back around to the camp. Heven takes off as well, in hot pursuit, leaving Klairence to dash over to the still burning fire on foot. There, he finds Heven and Juniper standing in front of Fana, who is one knee. He runs up beside Heven, drawing his dagger. The three dova soldiers stand by the trees, two of them holding the unconscious body of a female dova. The one Klairence had faced speaks.

"I suggest you guys give up your little pursuit." He says narrowing his eyes. "It won't end well. For any of us." He then looks over to the other dova, giving a little nod as they take off, still holding onto the body of the third soldier. The travelers watch as the dova fly off into the nights sky, disappearing amongst the trees. As the adrenaline fades away, feeling returns to Klairence's body. Not good. He collapses, falling into the dirt. Heven rushes over.

"Klairence!" Heven kneels down, pulling Klairence up into a sitting position. "Breath, just breath. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine just- gah!" Klairence yelps as he moves his back. He can feel the scratches, deep wounds made from the sharp claws of a dova. He curses. Heven takes his arm, lying him down.

"Stay here. I have to go see if Fana's alright." Heven says, standing and sprinting over to Fana. Klairence lets his head hit the dirty ground, taking deep, steady breaths. Everything hurts. He has to take his mind off of it. His thoughts slip away, to a time before he had to end up like this...

"Dad?" Klairence asked, tugging at his fathers pants. 

"Yes, Klairence?" He said, lifting little Klairence up and onto his lap.

"Will I ever get wings?" Klairence said innocently. His father had paused, smile fading just a bit.

"I'm afraid not, little soldier. You're a human." Klairence's face fell when his father said this.

"Can I still be in the army if I don't have wings?" Klairence asked. His father's smile returned, and he laughed.

"Of course you can! Don't let being a human stop you. Let it help you. You're unlike anyone else here, y'know? You've got a lot to bring to this world." His father said, patting his head. "I'll always be here for ya, ok?"

"I'll always be here too, dad." Klairence said, hugging his dad, wrapping his little arms around that worn tunic. "I'll always be here too. I'll make us very rich and happy, I promise." His father laughed.

"Oh Klairence. I'm already happy, so long as I have you."


	7. Just The Beginning

Silence fills the camp. Wounds have been wrapped. Weapons put away, and bloody clothing laid out to dry. Klairence lays awake on his blanket. The others are awake too, but no one speaks. No one wants to have to talk about what just happened. Nobody wants to discuss what's going on. No one wants to apologize or yell or do anything at all. They all just lay about, staring up at the stars. Klairence tries not to move. It hurts. Heven tries not to think. It hurts. Fana and Juniper lie next to each other, but never looking at each other. That would hurt too much. Time passes, and when the exhaustion that has hit Klairence's body finally reaches his mind, he is able to drift off into a light and uncomfortable sleep. 

When Klairence awakes, he notices Fana is already up. She sits on a log, munching on a sweet peach. Heven and Juniper are both still asleep. Klairence stands, breathing heavy. The bandages wrapped around his chest are tight. He walks over to Fana, sitting down beside her. She hands him a peach that was resting in a cloth on the log.

"Thanks." He says, biting into the fruit. They stare at the ashes of the previously lit fire. "Are... you feeling any better?" He asks, carefully picking his words. Fana gives a slight nod.

"Heven said my ribs aren't broken." She mumbles. "That's good." Klairence nods along, not sure what to say. 

"I...I'm really sorry that had to happen. After what you've been through, I mean." Klairence says, concerned. Fana looks up at him. Her expression is rather blank.

"It's ok. Wounds can heal." She remarks, taking another bite into her peach. "I'd rather be here like this with all of you then healthy and back home," She glances over at Juniper, who is fast asleep. "Yeah. I'd much rather be here." Klairence looks at her. Somehow, after all that, she still seems ok. She's a lot tougher than he thought. Klairence glances over to the others, asleep on the ground, and then suddenly, his demeanor changes. 

Klairence stands up, yawning in an exaggerated fashion. "Well, we don't have enough peaches for everyone, which means I should go out and find some berries to eat. See ya!" Klairence runs off. Fana looks at him as he disappears into the woods, puzzled by his sudden disappearance.

"Hey Fana." Fana perks up, whipping her head around to see an early morning Juniper standing behind her. 

"Juniper! Uh... hello." Fana says, suddenly hyper aware of the messy state her hair is in. She sets her peach down gently, running her fingers through her hair. "How... how are you feeling?" Juniper yawns, sitting down next to Fana. Fana turns away to hide her reddening face. 

"Good, surprisingly enough. How's your arm feeling?" She asks as she ties her hair up in a messy bun using a neatly wound twine band. 

Fana's eyes look everywhere except at Juniper. "Oh, my arm? It's fine..." Juniper frowns at her, looking right at her with her sharp green eyes.

"Here, let me have a look at it." Juniper says, taking Fana's arm. Fana is quick to protest.

"What? No, really I'm fine- ouch!" Fana winces as Juniper unravels the bandage, but she does nothing to stop her. Juniper makes a tsk sound as she examines Fana's gash.

"Those boys really don't know how to do anything, do they? This is never going to heal without some medication. Wait here." Juniper stands up, gracefully sweeping over to the small bag she brought with her. Digging through, she finds a little, round wooden container with some kind of ointment inside. Juniper returns, kneeling in front of Fana. "Bite down on this." She says, shoving a stick into Fana's mouth.

"What?" Fana mumbles, struggling to speak around the round stick lodged around her teeth. Juniper ignores her, completely concentrated on her work. She takes the ointment, gently spreading it across the wound. Fana bites down on the stick instinctively. Initially it stings. Then burns. But slowly her pain fades away, until it is nothing more than a forgotten breeze. Juniper returns to the bag, scavenging around for more bandages and, surprisingly enough, finding some.

"For once, dad's paranoia is actually coming in handy. Who knew that someday I'd need this many bandages." Juniper says to no one in particular. She wraps the bandages around Fana's arm, and Fana winces as she ties it off. Her teeth clamp hard on the stick, tears welling in her eyes. It is not a loosely tied wrap. Juniper stands up, a satisfied smile planted on her face. "There!" She takes the stick from Fana, tossing it onto the ground with a thump. Fana raises her arm. It feels much more mobile now, and she can't help but smile a little.

"T-Thanks, Juniper." Fana says quietly. Juniper plops down beside her, grinning. 

"Of course! I'm glad I finally can put my knowledge of medicine to use," She pauses, smile fading a bit. "Unless I wanted to read about history, there was pretty much nothing else to do around the palace except study medical texts or bug my mom." She laughs a little. Fana laughs with her, twirling a lock of soft brown hair around her finger. Juniper looks down to the ground, and Fana can feel her mood shift. Juniper sighs, smile fully wiped from her dark face. "It's probably my fault the dova attacked us, anyway." Fana looks up, the hair wrapped around her finger falling away. 

"What do you mean? It's not your fault, Juniper." Fana scooches a little closer to Juniper. 

"It was pretty stupid of me to think I could just leave Farse, unguarded, and not suffer any consequences. They must've been after me." Juniper looks up to Fana, guilt covering her perfectly symmetrical face. "I'm so sorry." Resolve begins to grow on Fana's face, something that could almost be mistaken for anger.

"Don't be! It's not your fault you needed a break." Fana yells, or at least says a little louder than usual. Juniper grabs Fana's hand, looking away from her and towards the sky, which has transformed from a light yellow to a big, bright blue. 

"Still... I can't help but feel like I shouldn't have done this. My life's so perfect, why-"

"Nobody's life is perfect." Fana states, a dark tone creeping into her usual soft and quiet tone. "Don't let anyone tell you don't deserve a break because you're life is 'so perfect.'" Fana takes her hand off of Juniper's resting it in her lap. She stares down at her hands, fiddling with her fingers. A few moments pass, as Juniper realizes Fana isn't going to say any more. Juniper takes a deep breath, preparing to say a lot of things in a short span of time.

"I just had to get away from the stress. With Marven, and my mom and...the wedding." Fana's head jerks up, her eyes wide. 

"Wedding...?" She asks, so soft Juniper can barely hear. Juniper nods sadly, leaving Fana to sit there in shock. 

"My dad wants me to get married soon. With all of the tension between Ishlak and Clarenzia lately, my father thinks it'd be a good idea for me to get married, you know? Solidify a pillar, prepare for the next heir, all of those things. My mom doesn't quite agree but... she can't do much." Juniper begins to fiddle with the twine bracelet loosely hanging off of her wrist. "And Marven's dad thinks so too. They... they want us to get married next month." Fana's jaw practically falls off of her face. 

"B-But you're only-"

"I've told him, over and over and over, 'dad! I'm only sixteen!' but he just won't listen. He keeps on saying 'I got married to your mom when she was seventeen, it's fine. You like Marven. I'm getting old. It'll be good for you.' Sometimes it just... it just feels like he doesn't care!" Juniper spits, anger radiating off of her body. The more she talks, the more aggravated she gets. "Turns out I've been betrothed to Marven since birth, too! And I found that out  _ last month.  _ He had the NERVE to not even tell me this! ALL of this! I just... ugh!" Juniper angerly stands up and begins to pace around camp, stomping the dirt with her boots, and muttering under her breath. Fana sits silently, still mentally processing all of this information. Juniper stops, taking a deep breath. "I'm going for a walk. I'll be back." And before Fana can say a word, Juniper has taken off into the woods. 

"Guess who found bloberries!" Klairence shouts, bursting from the forest into camp, dirt mixed in his scruffy blond hair. He turns, his eyes following Juniper as she disappears into the forest. He turns back to see Fana staring into the dirt, a pained expression on her face. His arms fall down to his side. "Ooooh… she left..." He awkwardly stumbles into camp, tripping over a stump and nearly a squirrel. He haphazardly places the bundle of berries by the fallen log, next to the core of Fana's peach. "I... won't ask." 

"I do not think it would be smart for us to continue traveling. I am sorry." Heven announces. The camp has been packed up and the four are standing on the road, outraged at Heven's recent declaration. 

"What!" Klairence shouts. "Are you serious!" Fana remains silent, staring at the dirt. Juniper, however, sighs, stepping over to join Heven.

"That was really dangerous Klairence… Heven's right. I shouldn't have made you guys take me." Juniper says, trying to reason with Klairence. 

"Those guys weren't after you, they were after the crown!" Klairence retaliates. Juniper steps back, shocked. Fana looks up.

"Wait... really?" Juniper looks to Heven. Heven nods.

"Yes. They took my picture of the crown, along with it's description." Heven states, his expression unwavering. "That is why I can not allow us to continue. If the dova are after this crown, it is far to dangerous to go-"

"If the dova are after the crown, that's why we need to go!" Klairence interrupts, still shouting. "Weren't you the one all about doing things for the greater good, Heven?" Heven furrows his brow as his cheeks turn red with embarrassment. 

"I'll give you your money, Klairence. We can all go home and rest easy, safe and sound. I'll even give Fana a place to stay in my family's manor." Heven says, his voice remaining level. "I'm afraid it's over, Klairence." 

"Over? What do you mean by that, Heven? That you're giving up?" Klairence steps forward, staring Heven down right in his wispy grey eyes. "Look, I might've started on this for the money. And sure, I still want to get to Halona and get my money. But if those dova have direct orders to get that crown, it's gotta be pretty damn important. Are you really going to go let them get it?" Klairence continues, a fire lit in his eyes. A part of him, the logical part, is telling him he's crazy. It's telling him to take the money and run, to leave this all behind. Another part tells him to do the right thing, to find justice and answers. But these feelings mean nothing compared to the final part of himself. A feeling, deep in his gut, that he hasn't felt in a long time: Lust for adventure. He feels that fire, the yearning to explore, to fight, to experience. How he felt all those years ago, looking up to aviatar guards with a childlike wonder, listening to his father's tales of great heroes and far off lands. He wants that more than anything, he's just refused to admit it to himself.

His three companions stare at him. He has a whole new aura to him now, as if something has clicked back into place. "I certainly won't. I know how much that stupid crown means to you, Heven. I will not let you give up on it that easily. By the honor of Ka, we are going to Halona, getting that crown, or we're going to die trying. Now who's coming with me!" Fana's eyes light up. She runs over, grabbing Juniper's hand and lifting it high into the air.

"We are!" Fana shouts. 

Juniper laughs, smiling. "Hell yeah we are!" They look over to Heven, eagerly awaiting his response. He sighs, crossing his arms and rolling his eyes.

"This is by far the worst decision I've ever made." Heven remarks. But no matter how hard he tries, he can't stop a smile from creeping onto his face. "So I guess this isn't the end?"

"Are you kidding?!" Klairence says, elbowing Heven playfully. "This is just the beginning!"

"We have reports, your majesty. The group of young travelers is still alive."

"Oh don't you worry, Ajax. We can find use for them. This might be a minor setback, but don't worry. This is just the beginning." A pause. A laugh. "Just. The. Beginning."


	8. The Port of Halona

"Why do you want to get to Halona anyway, Klairence?" Juniper asks out of the blue. Another day has passed since Klairence convinced everyone to continue the journey to the Port of Halona. Spirit's are high, sun bright, and conversation flowing faster than the mead at an Ishlakan bar.

"Oh, right! I still haven't told you guys." Klairence smiles cheerfully. He reaches into his shirt, pulling out the necklace that started his whole adventure. "I came to sell this. It's a human artifact. I was hoping to be back home soon but I got a bit... distracted." He glances over to Heven. Fana giggles a bit.

"It really is a lovely necklace. Harper would love it." Heven remarks. Klairence stops. 

"Harper?" Who's that?"

Heven tenses, his cheeks turning red. "Harper? I-I mean, she's just a friend from back home." Heven laughs nervously. Very unlike him.

"Are they a... girl, perchance?" Klairence asks in a way that he thinks is smooth. It's not. It's super obvious. Heven scoffs, raising his chin.

"Yes, she is. And a fine one, too." Klairence starts to grin like an idiot, waggling his eyebrows. Juniper sighs, shaking her head. 

"You like her, don't you?" Klairence teases. Heven's face turns beet red, and he glares at Klairence.

"Klairence! You should be more mature than this!" Heven exclaims, trying to shift the focus onto Klairence. Klairence bounces around, unfazed by Heven's chastising. Heven has just opened a floodgate that he will deeply regret opening.

"Oh please, you know I'm not mature. That should be obvious. Now, what's she like? Is she pretty? I'll bet she's pretty. How long have you known each other? Why..." Fana and Juniper fall back, sending Heven their most sympathetic looks, as he is bombarded by questions of every kind from a very nosy Klairence. 

Klairence sits at the foot of the bed, staring at an empty sheet of parchment. He looks back up at Heven, who is sitting at the foot of the another bed located in the room. Heven is in a simple nightgown.

"Can you please write it, Heven?" Klairence begs. 

Heven sighs. "Klairence, I don't know how long this adventure will take. You need to let you're family know you're alright  _ yourself _ . Now just write it." Heven shakes his head, tired of Klairence asking. Klairence bites his lip, not sure what to do. He can't tell Heven he can't write. Or read. That's ridiculous. He doesn't want Heven to think any lower of him then he already probably does.

"I... I have really awful handwriting, though..." Klairence says, his weak excuse falling on deaf ears. "I'll tell you what to write, ok?" Heven grumbles, standing up and taking the paper from Klairence.

"Fine. If it will get you to send it, I will." Klairence let's out a sigh of relief. Heven sits, his hand elegantly holding the quill. "Now, what should I write?"

The trees have begun to fade. This is what Klairence first notices. The space that begins to grow, separating the trees. The wind picking up. He can feel his heart race faster with each step he takes, because each step takes him closer to the place he never thought he'd go: The ocean. You see, Apa is in the middle of Inara. Meaning that if you want to see the ocean, you've got to go pretty far. Juniper and Fana seem excited, too. He doesn't think they've seen the ocean, either. Klairence tries to imagine what it's like, endless water. Is it flat or wavy, does it... his thoughts trail off as he realizes he won't have to imagine much longer. Juniper gasps.

"The ocean!" She shouts, pointing in front of them. And, sure enough, there it is. Klairence stares in awe. It's so much bigger than he could've ever imagined. It's absolutely huge, extending into what looks like infinity. The sun gleams off of the deep blue water, water with the richest hue of blue he's ever seen. It glitters like diamonds, and smells like...salt? Klairence sniffs the air. Yep. Salt. But a refreshing salty smell, filling him with energy and vigor, not the gross salt smell like down at the butcher house. What stuns Klairence the most is just how big it is. After traveling for days, he's seen big, but this... it's just  _ so _ big. Unbelievably huge and endless. 

Klairence, Juniper, and Fana all stand, mouths agape at the sight before them. Heven has a smug smile situated comfortably on his face. Smug looks seem to belong there. 

"Well, what do you think?" Heven asks, grinning at his companions reactions. Juniper bursts out into a huge smile.

"I... love it!" She dashes around, barely containing her excitement. "I can't  _ believe _ my parents never took me here! Look at it! So BIG!" Fana stares in a daze.

"Yeah... big..." She mutters, brain still struggling to catch up with what's going on around her. Klairence, bounds over to Heven, punching him in the stomach.

"Heven! How dare you not tell me about this! Explain this insanity! For the love of Ka, get your priorities straight!" Klairence shouts, still grinning. Heven winces, but smiles nonetheless. He knows Klairence isn't actually mad. The four head off towards the endless sea, finally having made it to Halona.

"So, Halona's just the ocean, right?" Klairence asks. The travelers are now sitting on the sand, admiring the sea and taking their lunch break. Juniper and Fana are down by the ocean, playing with the water and picking up every little thing they find, laughing. Smiling. 

"Yes. Since Halona's the kingdom of the merskins, it's completely underwater." Heven clarifies, staring off at the ocean. 

"Merskins, huh? I've never seen one." Klairence says, squinting his eyes at the sea, as if hoping to spot one. Klairence has seen other races if they past through his village, but since merskins can't walk, seeing one of them has always been impossible. He's heard that they're all very attractive, not that that matters to him, and that they love material things, although not as much as the dova. Jewelry, combs, gems, merskins are said to collect everything pretty and shiny. Why Halona gets along so well with Ishlak. Ishlak gives them gems, and Halona gives them fish. 

"Oh, they're quite pleasant, at least the one I met when on my last trip to the port. Although that was a long time ago. I used to come here much more often, when I was little." Heven takes a deep breath, inhaling the salty air. 

"Why'd you stop coming?" 

Heven pauses, pondering what to say. "...family drama." Klairence nods, turning back to the sea. They sit for a moment, listening to the calming waves as they roll in and out on the fine grains of sand. 

"Heven?"

"Yes Klairence?"

"Why do you think the dova want that crown?" Klairence asks. Heven frowns, staring into the sand, deep in thought.

"Those books did say it was originally a Dovgarde crown."

"Yes, but it's just an artifact. A material thing. Is it worth killing a bunch of teens over?"

"Dova are known for valuing material things, especially if it belonged to them in the first place."

"I know, but still. It just... doesn't make sense to me." Klairence grabs a handful of sand, letting it run through his calloused fingers. Heven eventually shrugs.

"Well, there's no way we can know right now. Let us just focus on the task at hand." Heven says, standing up and brushing the sand off of his somehow still perfect tunic. "JUNIPER! FANA! WE'RE GOING!" He shouts. Juniper and Fana come running up, both partially soaked. "Let's get going. The Port of Halona is just down the shore!"

Not even an hour later, the four get sight of the Port of Halona. And oh boy, is it unlike anything Klairence has ever seen. It's a huge, man-made island of light stone. Listone, the only known stone that floats, is what makes the foundation for the whole thing. As they approach, wonder in their eyes, Klairence get's a better view of what the port really is.

The whole thing is afloat, with a wide and crowded wooden dock leading up to it. The island is a perfect circle, it's paths carefully carved and crafted out of listone. Market stalls crowd the whole island, with the only solid building being a small listone structure situated at its center. Patches of grass and dirt are placed strategically amongst the place, giving workers and merchants a place to sit and discuss. Right beside these grass patches are holes, purposefully placed so that merkins can poke their head above the water and do business with the many traders wandering amongst the stalls. 

Looking down, Klairence can see that under the listone there is a huge merskin city of coral. Merskins swim about the city, long hair waving in the water, and the scales on their fish tails glistening in the light. Klairence stares in awe at it all, forcing Heven to have to push him along to keep him moving forward and through the growing crowds. A town sits on the forest near the shore as well, most likely housing the permeant merchants of the port. Huge ships surround the island, and the bustle of the place is real. People rush about, and even the dock leading up to the island is incredibly crowded. The four travelers approach the dock.

"I can't believe we really made it." Klairence says, stepping onto the wooden dock. It's surprisingly sturdy, which is good, considering how many people walk around them. Before Klairence can move forward, Heven stops him.

"Wait. You've got to go sell you necklace, right?" Heven asks. Klairence nods. "I'm heading off to the market archives, to try and find out more about this dova crown. We should probably split up."

"If we're splitting up, then I want to go explore." Juniper states in a way that discourages anyone from denying her this.

"I-I'll go with Juni." Fana says, cheeks turning a little pink. She covers her mouth. "Oh, sorry! Can I call you Juni?" Juniper smiles. 

"Of course you can. In fact, I like that nickname. Rolls off the tounge." Juniper takes Fana's hand. "Now let's go!" Juniper runs off, dragging Fana behind her. They disappear into the crowd.

"Meet me in the archives tonight!" Heven shouts after them. He sighs, turning to Klairence. "Same goes for you." 

"Alright, you're the boss here." Klairence grins. "Now I'm off to strike it rich. See ya!" Klairence dashes away, leaving Heven alone to walk all the way to the archives, the little listone building in the center of this organized mess.

Klairence reaches for his neck, pulling out the necklace as he slows to a walking pace. He reaches the edge of the dock, eyeing the listone path before him. His brain knows it's safe but his instinct... not so much. He takes a deep breath, and takes the leap of faith, putting one foot onto the listone. Much to Klairence's amazement, it feels exactly like solid ground. His other foot follows suit and he stands, necklace in hand, admiring the world around him. 

Klairence begins to wander, not quite sure where to start. People of all races wander about, and he can't help but stare at some. Salskins, merskins, he even sees a karano man. He stops, staring at him. He's about two feet smaller than him, and his hair is quite long and gray, matching a long beard. He quickly turns away as the karano turns around. Karanos do not appreciate being stared at, and he'd really rather not have his ass whooped by a four foot tall warrior today. Each stall has some unique merchant selling their wares. It also seems like guards are at each stall, staring into every passerby's soul as to eliminate even the slightest thought of touching something without the intent of paying for it. No thievery would be going on here, that's for sure. After a few minutes of walking around, Klairence finds a stall that looks promising.

The merchant sitting behind it is a old human, probably around fifty years old, with a balding head and a greasy old goatee. His face is wrinkled, but in a way that's more endearing than unattractive. He smiles at the customers who briskly walk by his stand. He has a kind smile, with small blue eyes, and clothing of decent quality. He's also a bit on the larger side and definitely on the hairy side. Displayed in little locked cases are scrolls and artifacts that Klairence can tell are from the original humans. He takes a deep breath, approaching the stall.

"Excuse me, sir." Klairence announces his presence, standing before the stall and nervously rubbing his finger over the medal pendent on the necklace. 

The merchant smiles at Klairence. "Why hello there, young man. Are you interested in any Earth relics?" Klairence swallows his nervousness, shaking his head.

"Uh, no thank you. Actually, I was wondering if you're currently buying artifacts?" Klairence asks, holding his breath.

"Why, I am always interested in a new artifact. What've you got for me?" The old man says, sitting in a cushioned seat behind his stand and placing a hairy elbow on the stall's table. Klairence carefully places the necklace on the table.

"I found this in an old chest, and my mother said that it's a human artifact. Local appraiser said so too. How much do you think this is worth?" Klairence pushes the necklace towards the merchant. He takes out a small pair of rounded glasses, placing them on his large nose and examining the pendant. He takes a few minutes, muttering to himself. After these painstaking minutes pass, he puts his glasses away, looking up at Klairence.

"I'm afraid your mother was mistaken, boy. This isn't a human necklace, it's just an ordinary pendant." Klairence freezes, as it seems like the whole world slows down. He stares at the merchant blankly.

"Are...are you sure?" Klairence says, desperately hoping that the merchant is wrong, that he'll take back what he just said. But he doesn't. The old man simply shakes his head, sighing as he pushes the necklace back to Klairence.

"I'm quite sure. Out of everyone here, I'm the one who knows the most about human artifacts and history, my boy." The merchant explain. Klairence turns away, nodding slightly.

Everything moves around him so slowly. His fingers feel numb. It feels as though he has shattered, split into a thousand pieces and scattered across an endless desert. He can feel everything slip away from his grasp, falling into the very sea that surrounds him. Leyla. Mom. A nice house. Nice clothes. School for Leyla and toys for her to come home to. Even just a nice meal every night. All of it, gone, in one instant. Klairence doesn't feel like crying, or shouting, or running. He doesn't want to lay down and give up. He just feels empty, the fire in his gut extinguished with those horrible words. So numb. So disappointed. He's only felt like this once before, a memory that he remembers as clear as day...

"When will dad wake up?" Klairence had asked. He sat next to his mom. Leyla rested on her lap. Klairence didn't understand, for his mother could never muster the courage to explain why his father's body was currently being rolled away by the doctor. Why his mom's face was drenched in tears. Why, for the past two days, his mom had locked the door to her room and refused to come out. leaving Klairence to empty every cupboard in search of something, anything, to feed Leyla. He was confused. He tugged on his mom's skirt. "Momma, when will dad wake up? Where's he going? What are they doing?" The doctor covered his father's body with a blanket, turning to Klairence. He got down on one knee, face to face with Klairence. The doctor removed his glasses, sighing deeply. 

"I'm afraid your dad won't wake up. He has... passed on." The doctor said slowly, trying best he could to break the news. "We pray to Ka that he will be taken care of." That was the moment of realization. There had been no tears shed by Klairence. He was numb. Cold and numb. Like he was just watching his life, not feeling it. Empty inside. Everything was so fuzzy, so cold. He hated that feeling, more than anything in the world, because it was when he felt like that nothing else mattered. No one else mattered. It was just him and his own mind, devoid of thought. An abyss of nothingness.

A nightmare he could never wake up from.

Walking. All Klairence can think about is his walking. Keeping himself from stumbling and falling. Afraid that if he does, he might never be able to stand up again. Everything around him fades into a blur, a cacophony of useless chatter from useless people. He just walks, going nowhere in particular, drifting about like a lost boat on an endless sea of black water, just waiting to swallow him up, drag him to the depths, and keep him there forever. And, to be frank, he wouldn't mind. At least down there the water would be cool, unlike the hot anger that begins to rise in his chest. At least down there, at the bottom of the sea, nothing matters to anyone anymore. 

Klairence looks up, seeing through the hazy blur that has seemed to coat his view. He has wound up at the listone structure in the center of the port. He's not sure why his feet seemed to drift here, but they continue to carry him forward. His thoughts are still empty, mind still numbingly blank.  _ Come on, Klairence. Snap out of it _ ! Klairence hears something yelling ever so softly in his mind. The voice is so soothing, he wonders why he would ever listen to the words being said. No, he'd much rather hear it than listen to it. He pushes the door open, entering the building. It's cool inside, refreshing. The numb begins to fade the slightest bit after feeling such a rush of cold. Then a rush of hot, coming from inside. He stands, expression blank to all those who see him. But inside a war rages, of fury and sadness and worry all fighting to surface, suppressed by the emptiness that has enveloped Klairence's mind. He doesn't want to feel right now. 

He sits down on something, something soft and cushiony. He closes his eyes. The darkness helps. Breathing, breathing. That's what he needs to do. He pauses and breaths, as the numbness washes away.  _ There's no need for this right now _ . He tells himself. _ I don't need to be protected. Just let it come. I can handle it. _ He takes another breath, and with it, the numbness finally washes away, as the feelings rush in.

Anger. Sadness. It all flows in at once, in a huge wave, as his thoughts come in short bursts. His eye's flick open. He doesn't suppress his thoughts, but he ignores them. They're too busy and loud. With the numbness gone, he can think properly again. Thank Ka. The first thing he does is figure out exactly where he is.

He looks around, noticing that he is sitting in a small and rather empty room. He sits on one of two cushions, with a nicely carved oak end table located between the worn cushiony chairs. A druid receptionist with pointy ears and incredibly pale skin works busily behind a small counter, oblivious to Klairence's presence in the tiny room. Klairence clenches his hands into fists, gritting his teeth. Of course the pendant wasn't really a priceless artifact. Of course it had to wind up like this, with him unable to control what happened. He's so mad at the necklace, mad at the merchant here and back in his home town. He's mad at his mom for sending him away. He's mad at his dad for leaving him behind. But, most of all, he's mad at himself. He bites his lip, just barely keeping the tears at bay. He was so stupid to think this one thing would fix everything, he was so stupid to go so far from home, so stupid to not even recognize the necklace was a fake.

Heven. He needs to find Heven. Klairence walks up to the receptionist, swallowing his tears. There's still hope. He still has Heven to help him out. He'll still bring money back, still give Leyla her doll. Klairence freezes. Thinking about Leyla is not the best choice right now. Shaking his head, he banishes all thoughts of her from his mind. Now is the time to think about the present. 

"Hello?" Klairence says, forcing the word out of his mouth. His mouth feels less dry, like speech won't be such an ordeal anymore. 

"Oh! Hello there!" The druid receptionist pops up from behind the counter. She is rather old, and she has frazzled, almond hair, tied up messily around her head. She smiles at Klairence. "Welcome to the archives! What can I help you with?" Klairence lights up. The archives! This is where Heven said he would be. Klairence clears his throat.

"Did an aviatar happen to come through here? Tall, broad, white wings?" Klairence says to the receptionist, describing Heven as best he can with his still limited thought cohesion. The receptionist pauses, then lights up.

"Why yes, one did happen to be here not to long ago! Are you one of his companions he spoke of?" She asks. Klairence nods, eager to see Heven. He needs a lot of help right now. 

"Where'd he go?" Klairence asks impatiently. The woman sighs. 

"He asked to see Onive. Said he was a relative. He showed me the crest, so I let him," She sighs. "Against my better judgment."

"Well, I need to talk to him. Can I go in?" Klairence asks, pointing to a wooden door behind the receptionist. She shakes her head. 

"Sorry, dear, but Onive does not like to be disturbed. At all."

"Alright, I guess I'll go." Klairence says, turning away and slowly heading towards the door.

"Of course. Have a nice day- HEY!" Klairence does a quick heal turn, sprinting towards the door. He leaps over the counter and bursts through it, causing the receptionist to jump back in shock. He leaps through the door, and it swings shut behind him. "You can't- oh, whatever." The receptionist scoffs, dusting off her apron. "If Onive gives him a good beating, he can't blame me."


	9. Friendship

Heven is nervous to say the least. As he walks into that all-too-familiar archive building, made entirely of listone, a wave of nostalgia washes over him. And terror. Complete and utter terror. He stands in front of the door. He wants the crown, yes, but does he really want it enough to do... this? To face Onive? He takes a deep breath. Now is not the time to be a coward. Now is the time to face his fears and speak to Onive.

And maybe die in the process.

As he walks into the building, a wave of cool washes over him. He chuckles to himself as he looks around the waiting room. Not a thing has changed. Still has those old cushions from grandma. Heven approaches the counter, coming face to face with a receptionist he hasn't seen before. Onive must have gotten a new one. 

"Hello there, what can I-" The receptionist starts, but stops after seeing the annoyed look on Heven's face.

"Hello miss. I'm here to," Heven pauses, sighing. "...speak with Onive." He places a small gold medallion with the Aramat family crest on it. His family crest. "I'm a relative." The receptionist looks a bit shocked.

"Oh, uhm, well Onive doesn't really like visitors."

"I'm well aware of that. I just need to talk with them for a little while. I'll be out of your hair soon enough." Heven says, tapping his fingers impatiently on the counter. The receptionist nods.

"Well... alright. I'll allow it." She turns to the door behind her counter. Heven walks around it to stand by her side.

"Oh, and I have some friends here with me. If they come in asking for me, let them know I am here, please." Heven adds as she knocks on the door. 

"Alright." She replies. There's no response to her knocking. Eventually she just sighs, and opens the door. "Head on in," Heven swallows, taking a step through the doorway. The receptionist lets the door slam shut before whispering, "and good luck."

Inside is a large and rather bare room. It is a cylinder, and rather than walls, the whole thing is just a giant bookshelf. The shelves are overflowing with books and parchment, keeping track of nearly every sale made in the port. Each merchant's pay, goods, taxes, everything. It's all stored here, in the thousands of rolled up papers shoved in every nook and cranny. A ladder leans against a bookshelf, although it looks as though it has not been used in a long time. It's covered in dust, and probably has not left that spot since the last archiver worked here. In the center of the room, on a large rug with the Aramat crest embroidered into it, is a single desk. A quill sits in a small glass container of ink on the wood, and piles of paper scatter the large wooden desk. A simple wooden chair sits behind it, with a worn cushion lazily thrown on top of it in a futile attempt to make it more appealing to the eye. It's not.

The ceiling is less of a ceiling and more of a dome, made entirely out of a clear and slightly green sea glass. Sun filters in, lighting the whole room. However, Heven still spots an unlit candle on the desk, most likely used on late nights in the archive. Just like the waiting room, almost nothing has changed since Heven last visited around four years ago. 

"I appreciate it when unexpected guests announce their intrusion instead of just standing in front of my door like an idiot." A voice says from behind Heven. His shoulders tense up. He'd recognize that voice anywhere. Onive. Heven hears a loud swoop from above him, as Onive drops down into his desk. He pushes a pile of papers away, some floating onto the floor, to clear a view. Much like the rest of the room, Onive has hardly changed. They are thin and lanky, rather unusual for an aviatar, They have frazzled brown hair lazily wrapped in a bun, and thin, oval glasses rest on their long nose. Their skin is far paler than Heven's, but their eyes just as narrow and grey. They stare at Heven, eyes piercing through his very soul. He shivers. They still wear a simple white cotton shirt underneath an unbuttoned, light yellow jacket that is haphazardly placed on their shoulders, the symbol of the Port of Halona embroidered on it's corner. The only thing that has changed about Onive is the small beard beginning to grow on their chin. Heven frowns a little. He still hasn't managed to grow any facial hair.

"Who are you? Why did Yvoni let you in?" They ask, still glaring at Heven. Heven laughs nervously. He gulps. 

"It's uh, me. Heven." Heven says, placing his hand on the back of his neck. Onive's glare falters.

"Heven?" They ask, momentarily stunned. Heven chuckles.

"Yes. It has been... awhile. Good to see you're doing good as ever, Onive." Heven taps his feet nervously, looking everywhere except for Onive's eyes. 

Onive's face darkens. "Yes... it has," They remove their glasses and tuck them into a small pocket on their jacket. "You stopped visiting." Onive leans forward in his chair, causing Heven's heart to start racing.

"Well, I-I just figured that you wouldn't want to see me, after how badly I screwed up and-" Heven begins to ramble, but is interrupted by Onive leaping out of their chair and flying over to Heven, tackling him.

"Are you kidding?! It's so great to see you, Heven!" Onive exclaims, enthusiastically hugging Heven. Heven nearly falls over. 

"Woah! Calm down, Onive!" Heven says, laughing. Onive backs off, still beaming. 

"I've been missing you, Heven! Goofball. How dare my favorite cousin never visit." Onive scruffs up Heven's hair, leaving Heven laughing. He forgot how much he missed Onive. "Now you've got lot's to tell me about. Sit down, kiddo." Heven obliges, as Onive returns to their chair, flamboyantly sweeping all of the many papers on their desk out of the way. "Now, since when have you been so tall?"

Klairence could never have been prepared for what he sees when he enters the main room of the archives. First, the books. So many books and papers. Second, Heven sitting there in front of what looks like a man, chatting away. Klairence recovers from his grand leap into the room, standing up and smiling sheepishly. He's not sure what his plan was. Heven whips his head around to face Klairence.

"Klairence? What are you doing here?" Heven asks, standing up. The person behind the desk stands as well, walking over beside Heven. 

"Oh, Heven, is this one of your friends!" The person exclaims, speedwalking over to Klairence. Heven rushes over as well, blushing a bit and obviously embarrassed by his friend's behavior.

"Yes, this is Klairence. Klairence meet Onive." Heven says, then sighs. "My cousin." Onive outstretches his hand, smiling. Klairence takes it and shakes. Onive suddenly perks up, remembering something. 

"Oh! I'm sorry, I don't have another chair in here for you! Let me go get one from the front." Before Klairence can say anything, Onive is out the door, leaving it swinging. Klairence turns to Heven.

"Well he seems... energetic." Klairence comments, taking another step into the space. Heven quickly responds.

"They." Klairence looks at Heven, confused.

"What?" 

"Onive prefers to be called they." Heven says causually. "Not he." Klairence nods, still a little confused.

"Oh, alright. Sorry-"

"No need to apologize! We all make mistakes. It's a part of living!" Onive bursts back into the room, toting one of the chairs from the front. They place it in front of a desk located in the center of the room. "You know, it's so fascinating the way karanos view gender in their culture. It's not even a thought to them! Why, I've met many a karano myself who don't use pronouns at all! Or at least none that we use in Apa or Clarenzia. Incredible, isn't it? So inspiring. In fact, a few years ago," Onive acts as though they are about to say more, but Heven quickly interrupts them.

"Ok, not today Onive. I don't think Klairence would enjoy hearing about the entire history of the karano race and their culture. Right, Klairence?" Heven says, sending Klairence a desperate look of 'please don't encourage them to go on.' Klairence nods.

"Right, I uh... have a lot to do today." Klairence says very unconvincingly. But Onive just shrugs. 

"Well, all right. It's your loss." Onive says. Heven shoots him a look, letting Klairence know it's definitely not a loss. Klairence sits down, as he and Heven chat with them for awhile. Apparently Onive is twenty-three, and has been working as an archivist since they were nineteen. Klairence can't believe that there's all these records of what money passes through the port, and what goods. It's so much to take in, and it almost lets him forget about the necklace that still rests in his pocket, that still feels a lot heavier than it actually is.

"Actually... I came here to find something." Heven says after many minutes of talking. Onive tilts their head, listening carefully. "Don't tell my father but... I'm currently looking for the Silver Crown. You know, the family heirloom." Onive nods thoughtfully.

"I see... following Ginin's footsteps, huh?" Onive says with a sigh. Heven sheepishly nods.

"Uhh… who's Ginin?" Klairence whispers. 

"My brother, the second oldest. Who went looking for the crown a few years ago." Heven replies, whispering back to Klairence. Onive has stood up, and uses their white feathery wings to take off, flying around the dome near the highest shelf, shuffling through books and records. Many pieces of parchment fall, landing on the dusty floor. Each misplaced paper greatly bothers Heven.

After a some searching, Onive flies back down, placing a single piece of parchment on their desk. Heven looks at it, carefully studying each word. Klairence remains sitting upright. It all just looks like random marks to him anyway. 

"This is a report from about fifty years ago. I've always found it odd, though." Onive points at certain points on the yellowing parchment. "A one time merchant, only supplying one item, to one person, for one price, all in one day. Legally, it all lines up. Taxes paid and everything. And yet it's always... confused me." Onive stares at the paper. "It says the good is a 'crown.' No material description. No orgin. Granted, the paperwork was a lot looser back then, but still. It doesn't feel right."

"Do you know who it was sold to?" Heven asks. Onive bites their lip in concentration. 

"We have a promise of privacy for the buyers in the port. Unless they're a fellow merchant, that is. The buyer obviously wasn't a merchant. But they did have to make a signature, since the price was so hefty." Onive points to a small slip of paper hidden within the folds of the parchment. Heven picks up the paper. 

"Li'jun." He says, reading it aloud. Onive nods.

"A salskin name. Two syllables, as well." Onive comments.

"What do the syllables have to do with anything?" 

Onive smiles. "Quite a bit, actually. Not many know this, but it's typical in salskin culture, specifically underground culture, for the higher-ups in robber gangs and guilds to put the name of their group or guild as a prefix to their given name. Li used to be the number one robber guild in The Marsh." Klairence stands, speechless at how one aviatar could know so much, and at such a young age too. Onive blushes as they notice Klairence's stunned expression. "I find history fascinating, as you can see." Onive laughs a little. Heven, however, does not consider this a laughing matter.

Heven picks up the parchment. "Hmmm... I see. So the buyer was a salskin gang leader. Meaning the crown was probably taken and sold in-" 

"The Marsh Market." Onive says, finishing Heven's sentence. "A lawless marketplace. No archives, no taxes, no rules. Anything goes. How horribly unorganized it must be. I can't imagine." Onive shudders. Heven continues to stare at the paper. Finally, he looks up at Onive.

"Onive, may I take this with me?" Heven asks. Onive looks around nervously.

"I don't know. I'm not really supposed to let records go, and it could ruin my careful organization..." Klairence looks around at the scattered papers and carefully bound books shoved unceremoniously into the shelves, rolling his eyes. Organization? Really? 

"Please, Onive. I really need this." Heven pleads. Onive sighs, taking the parchment from Heven's hands and rolling it up. 

"All right." They say, tying off the roll of paper with twine. "But you've got to promise to visit me more often, ok?" Onive smiles sweetly at Heven. Heven smiles back.

"Of course. I'm... I'm sorry, for being gone so long." Heven mumbles, looking down at the wooden floors. Onive says nothing, just gives Heven a huge hug. 

"I just hoped you didn't forget about me."

"I couldn't, even if I wanted to." They stand, hugging a moment longer, leaving Klairence feeling like a true third wheel on this family bonding. "I just... didn't feel like I could come back."

"It's not your fault, Heven. You were just a kid." Onive remarks sadly. "You couldn't have known that telling your dad would cause all this."

"He seemed so confused, why our goods were getting taxed... I just wanted to help." Heven clenches his fists. "I didn't think he was trying to cheat the taxes."

"I deal with cheating merchants every day, Heven." Onive says. "That was no different."

"You're a good person, Onive. For not letting him do that." Heven bites his lip. "I'm sorry." Onive lets out a little laugh.

"Don't be, Heven." Onive looks into Heven's eyes, smiling. "You're a good person, too. Don't forget it."

After some more goodbyes, Klairence and Heven take their leave, exiting the archives.

As soon as Klairence steps outside and back into the thick of the marketplace, he remembers what happened. How his money, and with it, his hope, has disappeared. A sickly feeling rests in his stomach, a reminder that everything isn't going ok. He takes a deep breath, turning to Heven.

"The necklace isn't a human artifact. I didn't sell it, Heven." Klairence says. They both stop, standing on the listone path. 

"What...?" Heven looks down at Klairence. Klairence just stares at the ground. Now that he's said it out loud, the reality has truly set in. He won't get any money for it. He won't be able to get his mom the medicine she needs. He tries to hold back his tears but they won't stay in. He starts to cry.

"I...I don't know what I'll do. I've got nothing to bring back to my family. My mom... Leyla..." Klairence stops talking, a sob escaping from his throat. He buries his face in his hands. Suddenly, Heven wraps his arm around Klairence. Klairence looks up, tears still streaming down his face. 

"It's all right, Klairence." Heven says, keeping his arm locked around Klairence's shoulder. "I'm still paying you, remember? You've helped me a lot." Heven looks down at the parchment tucked underneath his arm. "I'll make sure you have enough to get your mom some medicine."

Klairences looks back down. He should be embarrassed, acting like this. But he isn't. Because he knows that Heven will get him the money, even if the logical part of him still can't seem to wrap its head around the fact that someone would hand over their money to help Klairence. But Heven nods. 

"I swear on my life." Klairence manages to wipe some of the tears off of his face. He feels a bit more whole now, and not just because of the money he's been promised. Heven's the first real friend he's ever had. And just for that, Klairence is willing to do whatever it takes to get him that crown.

In this moment, Klairence makes a promise to himself. A promise to get Heven's family to notice him. To respect him. It'll be hard, yes. Family's complicated. Friendship's complicated, too. But as Klairence stands beside Heven, as they walk away from something bad into something good, he realizes that friendship might not be as complicated, or as hard, as he had always thought it was.


	10. Juniper and Fana Make a Scene

Juniper and Fana wander through the streets of the Port of Halona, staring in awe at everything they pass. Heven and Klairence just left, so there's no one left to bother them. No one left to make sure they don't break anything, either. Fana and Juniper dash from stall to stall, marveling at every good like children in a candy store. A counter display full of sparkling jewels, a market stall selling shimmering daggers, and a little place covered in soft rugs. Merskins emerge from the holes in the ground, poking their heads above the water to trade seashells, fish meat, seaglass jewelry, and other goods for fresh Ishlakan Mead or spicy Felmo peppers. Speaking of Felmo, its denizens fly about, generally creating chaos.

Flurries, the natives to Felmo, although most don't live there anymore, fly about the marketplace. They are all about one foot tall, and have little butterfly wings jutting out of their backs. Most of them are dressed in simple tunics, made from the scraps of probably stolen clothing. Makes sense that so many of them fly about, considering the current anarchy Felmo has been plunged into. They've got a whole world to infest.

"Fana! Look at this!" Juniper says, pointing excitedly at a stall. The stall looks permanent, and is made of a dark oak. Necklaces dangle from the top of the stall awning, and the whole counter is covered in finely crafted jewelry. Juniper bounces over to the stall, as Fana nimbly walks behind her. The shopkeeper, a manu man, smiles as the girls approach. He has fox ears and red hair, and his smile is filled with fangs. 

"I didn't know you like jewelry, Juni." Fana comments, staring in awe at the wide display of accessories. Bracelets of intricate silver, necklaces with green emerald embedded in gold, the stand really seems to have it all. But a necklace catches Fana's eye. It's a simpler one, hidden behind much fancier goods, but Fana can't help but admire it's simplicity. It is a small amber droplet dangling off of a small leather circle. Fana stares at it. It reminds her a lot of a gift, given to her by a friend long ago. A small copper necklace she had given her, before she left her village, off to train for the military. She never came back to see her. The necklace filled Fana with memories of her, however. Fond and bittersweet. She felt drawn to it. Juniper looks over at Fana, who is staring at the necklace, longing in her eyes.

"That's a pretty one." Juniper points out, standing beside Fana. Fana looks at Juniper, right in her emerald green eyes.

"Yes... I think it's really pretty at least." Fana turns away, blushing. Out of all these gorgeous gems, she admires the amber? Juniper probably thinks she's so poor. Fana wishes she could take back what she just said. 

"Here." Juniper suddenly grabs the necklace, placing it on the countertop in front of the merchant. "I'll take this one, please." Fana looks up, shocked.

"What? Juniper, you don't have to-" But before Fana can get all the words out, the sale has already been made, and the necklace dangles from Junipers hand. She approaches Fana, gently wrapping the necklace around her neck and then stepping back, looking satisfied.

"There. It looks better on you than it did on the awning, anyway." Juniper says matter of factly. Juniper smiles, and Fana blushes, looking down at the ground. Suddenly the flat path of listone is very interesting. Juniper starts to blush a little too. She quickly shakes it away. 

"Come on! We've got stuff to see and- oomph!" Juniper briskly turns on her heel, only run right into a burly salskin. 

"Excuse you." The salskin says roughly, not slowing his walking and pushing right through Juniper. She stumbles back.

"Hey!" She shouts at him, but he doesn't even turn to acknowledge her. This pisses Juniper off. She's not exactly used to being ignored. Or disrespected. Being a princess has it's perks, after all. Fana realizes she's in the way and quickly steps to the side, but she isn't quite fast enough, and still ends up getting elbowed in the ribs. Right where her wound from the dova attack is still healing. She winces, but doesn't say anything. She's learned when to stay quiet.

Juniper has not.

"Well, excuse you!" Juniper, marches up to the salskin, tapping him not so lightly on the back. He turns around, obviously annoyed. 

"What?" He asks, spitting on the ground. Juniper clears her throat. Fana's eyes widen. Uh oh. Whatever Juniper is about to say will not go over well with this guy, Fana can feel it. 

"You really just think you can push people around, don't you? Get a clue, for Ka's sake." Juniper says. The salskin rolls his eyes, obviously not listening to a word Juniper is saying.

"Yeah, I can. Nothing's stopping me." He states plainly. The  _ s _ sound he makes is extended, like that of a snake. Most of his body is covered in mud-colored scales, and his eyes are reptilian red. Juniper coughs, standing on her toes and looking him right in the eyes.

Juniper spits back at him, hitting him right in the eyes. Fana covers her mouth. The salskin wipes his face and growls.

"Are you looking for trouble, kid?" He asks, glaring at her. He reaches an arm out to shove her. His mistake. Juniper swoops to the side, grabbing his arm and painfully twisting it. "Gah!" He lets out a shout, and Juniper release his arm. She dusts her hands and turns around, obviously proud of herself. The salskin sputters, hissing at her. Fana isn't quite sure what Juniper expected to happen. As if she thought she could just walk away with no consequences after pulling something like that. The salskin grabs Juniper's arm, now more than just annoyed. Fana realizes that whatever will happen next is definently not good for Juniper. 

Fana's feet start moving before she can object, as she dashes towards the salskin, launching herself and giving him a hearty kick in the stomach. A strong kick, too. Satyr legs and hooves are not fun to have lodged underneath your ribs. Fana, however, isn't quite sure how to land after a kick lick that, and winds up on the ground, sitting on her butt. The salskin nearly falls to the ground, releasing Juniper in his shock. Juniper runs over to where Fana is sitting, outstretching her hand. 

"Thanks. That was close." Juniper says, breathless. Somehow, she's still smiling. Fana looks around Juniper, seeing the salskin charging towards them.

"Look out-" No sooner had the words escaped her mouth that Juniper whipped her head around, seeing the muscular man hurling towards them. Juniper grabs Fana's arm, pulling her out of his path. She slides to the side, barely avoiding his attack, and extending her foot out to where her body just was. The salskin might be big, but he certainly isn't agile. He realizes too soon that Junipers leg is there and, unable to slow himself, hits it at full speed. He practically flies through the air, landing on his face in the listone path with a brutal thump. Fana looks up at Juniper, absolutely amazed. She's so graceful and calculated. Strong. Beautiful. 

Just like Lani was. Before she left the village. Before she left Fana all alone. Before she ran away to the military to be with the boy she loved. Before she died in an accident, and until the only trace of her left was a copper necklace. Copper that shimmered like amber. Fana finds herself holding the amber necklace around her neck, clutching it in her hand. That copper necklace had burned, melted in the fires set to her village that dreaded night. Fana begins to feel shaky. She can't think about that. It's still too soon. 

Fana stands, a little wobbly. Juniper grabs her arm, steadying her. She looks around, realizing the path around them has cleared, as a small crowd has stopped to observe the disturbance. The salskins stands, growling, his face dripping blood. Fana steps back, ready for the worst. But just then, about five guards rush in. The salskin's dread is painted on his face clear as day as two guards fly over to him, restraining him. However, the other three simply walk over to Juniper and Fana, looking exasperated. They've obviously identified him as a greater threat then Juniper and Fana are, seeing as he shouts and struggles while Fana and Juniper simply look at each other sheepishly. They're in deep trouble now.

"Sorry, Fana." Juniper apologizes. The two sit in a small, shoddily-made cell. The whole thing's made of wood and easily escapable, but preventing escape isn't really the point. The holding cells are here for petty thieves or scene-starters, like themselves. 

"No, no, it's ok Juni." Fana assures. The two are surprisingly happy to be sitting in a cell. "It was...exhilarating, actually. W-Watching, of course." Fana added. She sits on the dusty floor, fidgeting with her amber necklace.

"It... was." Juniper smiles, perking up. "Did you see that move, when I tripped him?" Fana smiles back.

"Yeah, that was really cool." Fana tucks a lock of hair behind her ear. 

"Klairence and Heven probably won't think so." Juniper adds, laughing a little. "Heven is  _ not _ going to be happy." 

Fana giggles. "Oh, he's going to be so mad. We're surely in for an earful-" Just then, Heven and Klairence walk in, escorted by a guard. Heven has his arms crossed and is glaring at Juniper and Fana. Klairence, on the other hand appears to be holding back laughter. 

"You two have got a lot to explain." Heven says in his best intimating voice, his serious expression never breaking. Klairence bursts out into laughter.


	11. Family

"I can't believe you beat up a salskin." Heven says, walking a few paces ahead of Fana and Juniper. Klairence runs up from behind them, wiping tears of laughter off his face.

"I can't believe you beat up a salskin!" Klairence shouts, still dying of laughter. "That's crazy! How big was he? Did you punch him? How long did it take for the guards to stop you- oh what was the look on his face! When he saw that a druid girl left him  _ bleeding _ I can't even!" Juniper smiles, basking in Klairence's praise.

"Well, I mean he was quite surprised. I took him down without even breaking a sweat." Juniper says, with exaggerated flair. Klairence continues to laugh. Fana stays quiet, however. She doesn't find the situation quite as entertaining as Klairence does. 

"Stop encouraging her, Klairence." Heven grumbles. He most certainly does not find the situation entertaining. He had to sign _a_ _lot_ of paperwork and pay quite the fee to get Fana and Juniper off the hook. He acts all grumpy, but they know he'll come around. Heven tries to be the mature one, but he's only seventeen. He's just like the rest of them. Juniper wraps her arm around Fana's shoulder, elbowing her playfully.

"Fana had a great kick in there too. Saved my skin." Juniper adds, winking. Fana blushes, shyly pushing Junipers arm off of her.

"Well I-I mean it was nothing, really, just... trying to help." Fana says. Juniper smiles.

"You're a lot better at helping then you think you are, Fana, if that was nothing." Fana buries her face in her long hair, covering up her wide grin. Juniper smiles at her, and her pace picks up. Heven sighs, just shaking his head.

"I'm not mad at you, just disappointed." Heven says, trying his best to make the two feel guilty. Klairence snorts.

"Ok mom." Klairence says, rolling his eyes. Heven whips his head around, face red.

"What? I'm not like a mom." Heven protests. Klairence jogs up to stand by Heven. It is difficult to be annoying from a distance.

"That's exactly what a mom would say."

"No, not at all. A mom would admit that she is a mother. Why would she hide that?" Heven asks, genuinely confused.

"That's how mom's talk too, all fancy and stuff."

"I do not talk all fancy."

"Yeeees you do" Klairence smirks, proud of his own annoyance capabilities. Heven growls, turning away. 

"I just speak in a more sophisticated way."

"You talk like a mom." Klairence says, ending the conversation right then and there.

"Where are we headed to next, anyway?" Juniper asks after a few more minutes of walking. The group has traveled away from the shore, and Fana keeps looking back, trying to get her final glimpses of the ocean. She sighs once the expanse of water is out of view.

"Well, Onive directed me to The Marsh, so I suppose I am heading there next." Heven states, pulling out his map. "Whether you choose to join me, that is your decision."

"I'm sticking around, unless you're going to toss me out." Juniper says, stomping her foot down. Heven smiles. 

"The more the merrier." Heven says. His anger, or, "disappointment" at Juniper has already begun to fade. 

"I-I'll stay too, if it's not to much trouble." Fana mumbles.

"And I need money. For, you know, living." Klairence says. Heven nods, accepting all of their excuses for sticking around. But they all know the real reason everyone refuses to go home; they don't want to leave each other. After the dova attack something just... changed. A dynamic amongst them. Like an invisible glue is holding them together, a glue that grows stronger every second they spend together. It's clear that no one is going anywhere.

"I figured we could stop by your village, to check in on your family, Klairence." Heven suggests. Klairence shakes his head, immediately opposed to the idea. 

"No, no. It'd only slow us down. I'm sure they got my letter, and will be fine. I got a fr- an acquaintance of mine to watch over Leyla. Besides I, uh, don't really want to go back until I've gotten paid, y'know." Klairence says with a nervous laugh. Juniper nods empathetically. 

"And I'm going to give my parents some time to... think about some things." Juniper glances over at Fana, and Fana sends Juniper a sympathetic look. Clearly they've talked about something. 

"How are we going to get to The Marsh?" Klairence asks Heven, who is carefully studying his map. He looks up, a serious look painted on his face. 

"We'll go above Apa and around. It'll be a lot of travel though. We should probably stop to resupply at a village," Heven sighs, "The items at the port were so expensive."

"Well, what's the nearest village?" Fana asks curiously. Heven looks at his map a moment more, and then slows, looking up at Klairence. Heven looks worried, that's for sure.

"It, uhm… how do I say this." Heven pauses, carefully choosing his next words. "It is a karano village on the edge of... Ishlak." He turns to Fana, nervously awaiting her reaction. She just stares off, her eyes a little glazed over.

"Oh," She mutters softly. Juniper looks between Heven and Fana, concerned. "Oh. That's alright I guess. If you guys need to."

"Fana, if it's too hard we can just-" Klairence begins, but Fana interrupts him.

"No, no, it's ok. It's just an ordinary village. They're people too." Fana says. The others all glance at each other, very sure it is not ok. Fana simply stares off ahead. "They're people too." 

Fana never liked her old village. It was very small, so small, in fact, that everyone there knew each other. The manu were mostly deer, and the druids mostly birch. All plain. All the same. Every day was routine. But then there was Lani, who was just different. Lani wasn't particularly beautiful, but to Fana, she was gorgeous. Short, spunky hair, colored red with streaks of white. Fangs. Big orange eyes. Fox ears. She was fiery and intense, and she inspired Fana so much. Fana couldn't have been more plain. Plain clothes, hair, eyes, everything. But for some reason, Lani paid attention to her, and that meant the world to Fana. Until she left. 

Fana's dad always had a bad temper. Her mom always had paranoia. Together, it was a big disaster waiting to happen. And being the little sister to an older brother didn't help either. Tobia was his name. He teased Fana a lot. 

"Think fast!" He would shout, throwing something at Fana. She never was able to dodge it. "Come on, that was easy!" He beat her in every sport more than he needed to, so eventually she stopped playing. He didn't like her very much. No, he didn't like her at all. 

"Tobia would never hurt you!" Her mother would say. "Stop lying for attention!"

"Don't be so sensitive. Go out there and get a boyfriend to protect you or sumthin." Her dad would proclaim. "That's what ya mother did. Look how it turned out for her." He would laugh. Mom would stay quiet, cleaning the clothes. Her father would yell and yell at everyone and everything. If something went wrong he yelled, and he threw things, and punched holes in the walls. Fana would go hide in her room, plugging her ears as she heard a mirror shatter, and helping her mother piece it together in the morning. 

Tobia would stay out late and sneak in. He would yell. Dad would yell. So. Much. Yelling.

It made Fana want to cry, all of the yelling. She didn't understand how a place so small could hold a family so loud. She had a boyfriend once. Hartin. He yelled, too. He liked Tobia a lot. They drank together, which Fana didn't like. She realized she didn't like anything about him. But her mom said to stay with him.

"It'll get better, sweetie." She told Fana, running her long fingers through Fana's tangled hair. "It's good that you're finally thinking about settling down."

"But I don't think I love him, mom." She protested. Her mom shushed her.

"Of course you love him. He's so handsome, and so proper. How could you not?"

"I don't know mom. I just don't." Her mom sighed, smacking her somewhat lightly in the head with the brush, before running it through Fana's hair to finish off the tangles.

"Oh, it's just your teenage hormones. You'll learn to love him, soon enough." Fana nodded. She was lying. She never loved him.

Now he's dead.

Fana always wanted a way out, but she never asked for them to die. She wanted to leave, to live a better life, but not at the cost of their lives. Other's from the village made it out, she's sure of it. Her family did not. 

Tobia was drunk. He died.

Her mother gave up and cried. She died.

Her father stayed there, yelling until he, too, died. He was so loud, even at the end. He shouted at Fana to help him out of their house, which was burning down. She tried, she really did. But he was stuck under the wood. She told him she couldn't get him out. She told him she would go get help. But he didn't believe her, and her cursed and shouted as she ran away. A rock fell on his head, or at least she thinks one did. She didn't look back.

Fana just ran away. She got slashed in the arm. She got burned in the neck. She kept running and running until she couldn't run anymore, and then she kept running. Until she passed out.

She had never asked for her family to die. She tried to help her father get out, she swears it. She loved him, she had to. She misses her mother's voice, Tobia's face. Of course she does. They were family. She has to. And yet... somehow...

Fana walks ahead, letting the memories of that night come back to her. She should be crying. Why isn't she crying? She reaches her hands up to her cheeks, searching for tears that aren't there. She didn't hate her family, not every part of them. But somehow she doesn't feel like the world is gone without them. She feels... happy. Does this make her a bad person? Fana feels like a bad person. For a moment. But then she looks around, seeing Juniper, Klairence, and Heven, all standing by her side. Worried about how she feels.

Worried about her.

Fana feels bad that her family died. She never wanted that. But she realizes that they weren't her family. They were related by blood, but by nothing else. They never cared for her. She never cared for them. So she can feel bad that they died, but she does not have to grieve for days. She doesn't have to shed her tears for those who never cared for her. Because in just this last week, the friends around her have felt more like family than they ever did.


	12. Less than Sober

The four traverse a dirt path, that grows wider and wider as they travel. They are alone, except for the occasional wagon or passerby. As they near their destination, the path widens, and karanos seem to frequent the road. The karanos barely notice their far taller counter-parts, and the travelers avoid staring at the karanos short stature, heavy armor, and rock limbs. Klairence often looks back at Fana, worry convincing him she might break at any moment, but she seems to be coping surprisingly well. She smiles and walks and talks with Juniper, even waving at the occasional karano. One of them even waved back. Klairence doesn't know how she does it. He holds grudges a lot more tightly than she does.

Karanos tend to stray away from Apa. They take after the dova way of life, hiding in their kingdom surrounded by tall, wintery mountains and fierce guards. But unlike Dovgarde, where the dova live, Ishlak makes an effort to trade and converse with other kingdoms. Every karano Klairence sees is decked out in armor, and many have rocky parts of them. Some say the karanos were created long ago by gods from the rock itself. Klairence finds that hard to believe.

They continue to walk until the sun begins to set, and they see huge mountains in the distance. The gray peaks seem to scrap the sky, and the tops are covered in a powdery white. Snow, Klairence assumes. They're so tall and imposing, protecting Ishlak and its karano people from all harm. Well, almost all harm. Mountains can't protect you from blizzards, of course. Or mudslides. Klairence can't believe something could be so tall, after seeing only the flat plains of Apa farmland for so long. In front of the beautiful backdrop is a small tavern. A old, wooden sign dangles off of the roof, hanging so precariously Klairence is sure it will swing off and into his head at any moment. It reads: Harkly's Tavern.

"Well... this is the only place around for awhile. We should stay here for tonight." Heven says, standing a few paces away from the entrance of the tavern. He seems cautious to enter it.

"Well, we should just go in then." Fana says, picking up on Heven's hesitance and assuming it's because he's worried about her. Heven shakes his head, turning to face the rest of the group.

"It's just that, well, I've heard...stories about places like this near Ishlak." Heven lets out a nervous and sheepish little laugh. 

Klairence shrugs off Heven's nervous demeanor. "Looks like a normal tavern to me." Juniper nods her head in agreement.

"You do know what Ishlak is famous for, right?" Heven asks. Klairence glances to Juniper.

"Rocks and stuff... right?"

Heven sighs. "Yes, it is the number one exporter of minerals, but that is not my point." Heven takes a deep breath. "Ishlak is famous for its mead. And any country that produces that much alcohol-"

"Is gonna be full of drunkards." Klairence says, realizing the implications of this. Klairence groans. "Ohhhh great." Juniper pushes ahead of them, walking right up to the door.

"We can't spend all night out here. Let's just go in." Juniper turns back to the group, her hand resting on the door. She smiles. "After all, how bad could it be?"

Bad. The answer to that question is bad. 

The tavern is crammed. Nearly every table is filled with people. Karanos, salskins, even a few aviatars dot the tables. Most of them look a little less than sober. A small band stands on a rickety wooden stage that has been unceremoniously shoved into the corner. The band has a horn and a lute, along with a little karano singer. Whether the singer is any good, Klairence can't tell. Half of the tavern is singing along, dancing to whatever tune is being played. The other half is shouting. Chatting, yelling, their faces red and mead flowing out of their huge cups and tankards. About three bartenders work tirelessly. They might be the only ones in the whole place still thinking straight. 

It's so bright inside, Klairence has to shield his eyes a bit. He's so used to the darkness of night, or the shady daylight, that this much raw candlelight is quite the adjustment. Fana stares on, not quite in horror, but certainly not awe either. Her face is twisted, and she looks like she'd rather be anywhere else in the world. Juniper is in a shock, and Heven is shaking his head, laughing sadly. Heven suddenly grabs Klairence, dragging him up to the counter.

"Let's just get ourselves a room as soon as possible." Heven tells Klairence through gritted teeth. Klairence nods. Juniper and Fana quickly catch up to them, and all four stand, waiting for someone to notice them. Unfortunately, a tavern-goer notices them before a bartender does. A karano, strong and stout, spots the unlikely group. She has golden and silver pierces all over her ears, and one through her nose. Her face is bright red, and it's obvious she's had one too many beers. She comes with group of assorted karanos, all with dusty hair and grayish skin. She has a reddish tint to her, a sandstone karano most likely. Klairence looks down at her leg, noticing that behind her thin armor is a left leg completely made up of stone. Her hair is long, although only one half of it is. The other side is fine and short, shaved, most likely. 

She approaches them, laughing along with her friends and nearly tripping over her metal-tipped boots. She hiccups as she nears Heven and Klairence. Juniper steps forwarding, shielding Fana, who is subtly hiding behind Juniper.

She yells something at the group, but none of them understand what she's saying. She scowls at them, shaking her head. Heven looks over to Klairence, shrugging. She must be speaking a karano language. A long time ago, Apa established a common language. People in Apa, Clarenzia, Felmo, and most of The Marsh speak it exclusively. Everyone knows it. Klairence guesses that the drunk karano before him has forgotten that non-karanos don't speak the native language of Ishlak, just as non-dova's don't speak the language of Dovgarde.

"Hey! You all there!" She shouts, despite being right next to them. Klairence steps forward, putting it upon himself to speak for the whole group, much to Heven's dismay. The karano looks up at him, squinting and glaring.

"Uhm… what?" Klairence asks, a little annoyed. He'd rather not deal with a drunk karano warrior right now. She snorts, shoving him aside like he's a child. Klairence stumbles back, surprised at her strength, especially in her current state. She scoffs at him, pointing to Fana.

"Not you, human. The... deerish one." Juniper steps up, glaring down at her.

"Ohhhh no. You are not bothering the 'deerish' one. Not on my watch. You're drunk. Get out of here." Juniper states flately. Heven cringes, and Klairence facepalms. Juniper has obviously not interacted with a karano before. The karano woman growls a little at Juniper, then starts to randomly laugh. 

"No, yOu get out of her!" She yells, raising her leg in preparation for a kick. Her friends all cheer, clinking there drinks and settling in for a show. Juniper ducks, as the karano gives a clunky and miscalculated roundhouse kick. Klairence runs in, standing between this angry woman and Juniper.

"Woah, woah, chill out. What is it you want, lady?" Klairence asks, looking at the karano and continue to provide a physical barrier between her and Juniper. 

"The uh, the deer one got a... neck thingy- oh necklace! Ya, and I want it! My wife would love it!" The karano exclaims, a dreamy look filling her eyes. Juniper suddenly backs down a bit, shocked at the woman's words.

"Wife...?" Juniper mutters, but no one seems to notice. 

"Hey!" Fana shouts, emerging from behind a now complacent Juniper. She has the necklace grasped in her hand. "You can't just take this, it's mine." 

"Oh. Right." She stops her shouting suddenly, as if she just remembered that stealing isn't legal. Her friends let out a chorus of awww's and sighs, taking sips from their massive goblets of mead in disappointment. "Then... I'll arm-wrestle you for it!" She shouts. This gets her spectating friends all excited again. 

"YEAH!" They all shouts, clinking glasses and cheering. Fana blushes as she turns her chin up, crossing her arms.

"What? No, that's-" She begins. But then Juniper steps in front of her, grinning. 

"I'll arm-wrestle you. But, if I win, you've got to pay for our dinner and nights stay." Juniper says, grinning mischeiviously. She then glances at her three friends. "You've got to pay it for  _ all _ of us." The karano grins as well, shaking Juniper's hand drunkenly. 

"Deal!"

There's a small table located in the corner, and Juniper has kneeled down there. The table is too short for her to sit at, and as such she has to sit on the ground. Her challenger plops down in the seat, smirking. The karano's friends have gathered around, and are all watching with as much focus as they can muster, which is not much. Juniper smiles. She seems unreasonably confident.

"Uh, Heven?" Klairence whispers to Heven, who is standing right beside him, not happy with this turn of events. He turns to acknowledge Klairence. "Aren't karanos, like, super strong?" 

Heven lets out a long sigh. "Yes, they are. I have no idea why Juniper agreed to this." He glances around, and then leans in to ensure nobody can hear him. "When Juniper looses, we'll have to make a break for it." Klairence pouts.

"Another night outside? Come on," Klairence grumpily crosses his arms, then mutters, "I was looking forward to sleeping in a real bed tonight." A different karano walks up, standing between Juniper and her opponent. 

"On your mark, get ready, goooo!" He shouts, falling back into the group of laughing and cheering karanos. The karano woman grins, looking smug. But Juniper holds her own. The karano stops, looking confused, and then drops the grin. She's serious now. Juniper begins to struggle, her arm shaking. But then she moves her elbow ever so slightly. Again, and again. Heven perks up, coming a little closer. He doesn't quite understand how juniper hasn't lost yet. Fana crosses her fingers, intensely watching. Suddenly Juniper stops struggling. She sweeps her elbow across the table and, with bold movement, slams the karanos arm on the table, causing the whole thing to shake. The karanos stop cheering as Juniper leaps up, victorious. 

"GO JUNIPER!" Klairence shouts, running over and hugging Juniper. Juniper laughs, sweat still glistening on her forehead. Fana leaps over, pushing Klairence out of the way and hugging Juniper, beaming. Juniper blushes, still smiling. Heven stands there, in shock. Eventually he nods his head once and simply says,

"I'm surprised." He then walks over to the karano, not interested in congratulating Juniper. Strength is not a trait he values very highly. "Well, I believe you owe us a night's stay, miss." Heven says to the karano, a smug little smirk sneaking onto his usually stoic face. She grumbles.

"I have a name, y'know. Nikala. And here's yer damn money." Nikala drunkenly sifts through a little bag on her side, fishing out a fat pouch of coins. Heven takes the money, turning away.

"Thank you, Nikala. I was running low on cash." And with that, the happy travelers bounce off to the counter, rejoicing in their little betting victory. 

"There are two beds in each room. I'll stay with Klairence, so Juniper and Fana will have to share a room together. Meet up here in the morning, alright?" Heven says, barking out orders like the captain on a ship. Everyone nods. "We've still got a long way to go until we reach The Marsh. And it won't be easy once we get there, that much I can guarantee," Heven turns around, but stops before he disappears into his room. "And sleep well."

Fana and Juniper sit on their beds, Juniper brushing her long hair rather unhappily. Fana brushes her own hair, and the long fur on her legs. Being a manu requires maintenance, especially when walking through the wilderness. Dirt seems to love to stick to the fur just above her dull black hooves. 

"Did you see that karano's hair." Juniper says out of nowhere. Fana looks up at Juniper, who has put down her brush and is fiddling with her green locks.

"Yes...why?" Fana asks. She stands, going to sit by Juniper. Juniper pulls out a handheld mirror, with a small ruby embedded into the back of it's silvery surface. She looks in the mirror, frowning.

"Well, what if I got hair like that? It just looked so good." Juniper looks at Fana. Fana just looks back at Juniper, not responding. Juniper nervously laughs. "I mean, it was just a thought, not like I'd actually-"

"I think you'd look good." Fana says. She looks a Juniper, trying to imagine it. "Or maybe you could cut it short. Like Klairence." Juniper perks up. 

"You think so?" She asks, her eyes shining with hope. Fana nods, smiling. 

"Yeah... I-I think so." The room goes silent. Juniper wants to talk, but something stops her. An air of uneasiness surrounding Fana. She stays silent, waiting for Fana to say, or do anything. Fana takes a deep breath, clutching her hands together to keep them from shaking and shuddering. She looks up at Juniper.

"She also said she had... a wife." Fana says, managing to choke her words out. Juniper swallows hard, avoiding Fana's gaze. 

"Y-Yes, well, karanos do some very strange things. They're a lot different than us from Clarenzia-"

"Have you ever loved a girl before, Juniper?" Fana asks. Fana's heart is racing. She doesn't know why she's saying this, but the words just start coming out. Juniper's heart, on the other hand, seems to stop. Of course, her immediate reaction is to say no. But something stops her. Whose to say she hasn't? A heavy silence hangs in the room as Juniper and Fana's thoughts fly by, trying to win some sort of race where the only reward is more thoughts and questions.

"I... I don't know." Juniper finally says, looking down at her feet. "I don't know if I've ever even been in love. How are you supposed to tell?"

"You can't really tell. I think that's the point." 

Juniper nods. She lays down in her bed, as Fana goes to hers. Her arm is sore. She should be tired. But while her body slows, her mind races. She turns around, looking at Fana, who has fallen fast asleep. Fana is wrong, Juniper realizes. You can tell if you're in love.

Juniper knows because she is right now.


	13. War

Klairence stands in the hall of the upper floor of the tavern, waiting for Juniper and Fana to come out. He taps his feet impatiently, yawning.

"What is taking them so long! For the love of Ka, we've been waiting out here for hours!" Klairence complains as he paces around.

"It's been ten minutes, Klairence." Heven stands to the side, patiently waiting with his all-too-perfect posture. 

"Why don't we just open their door and see what's taking them so long." 

Heven shakes his head firmly. "It's rude to barge in on a lady."

"It's also rude to leave your friends waiting for you for hours."

"Ten minutes, Klairence. Ten minutes." Klairence turns around excitedly as he hears the door to their room creak open. 

"Finally, it was taking you forever- oh my Ka." Klairence starts speaking, but his words fade out as he sees what exactly was taking the two so long. Junipers hair.

No longer is her hair piled in a messy bun, folded into a royal braid, or flowing down her back like a waterfall of green majesty. No. It is short. Incredibly short. Her hair has been cropped into something that looks like it was loped off of a karano and placed onto the head of an elegant druid, and yet it...works. The haircut is shorter in the back, finely chopped like the hair of a man in the military of Apa. But the front is longer, sort of like Klairence's hairstyle. She looks great, and she's smiling, beaming with pride. Heven's jaw drops.

"Well... are we going to go?" Juniper asks, Fana walking out just behind her. 

"Your hair! It looks," Klairence runs up, looking at it in awe. "Awesome!" Juniper blushes a little, smirking. She's usually more modest than this. Fana's smile widens. Heven still just stares. Klairence wraps his arm around Juniper, playfully scruffing up her hair. "We match now!" He shouts. Juniper laughs, freeing herself from Klairence's grasp. 

"Well this certainly is... different." Heven comments. Junipers smile fades a bit.

"It's not bad though... right?" Klairence probes, giving Heven a subtle glare. Heven shakes his head, a little flustered.

"No, of course not! That's not what I meant I..." Heven shakes away his nerves, clearing his throat in the process. "It will take some getting used to, but that does not matter. You look wonderful, Juniper." Juniper and Fana look at each other, small smiles permanently planted on their faces.

"Alright, well we've got places to go. To The Marsh!" Klairence yells, turning on his heel and briskly walking down the hall.

"Wrong way, Klairence."

"Right. I knew that." Klairence turns around. "TO THE MARSH!"

Klairence wishes that he could go into Ishlak. The huge mountains seem to drift farther away, despite the fact that the path the group is following remains in line with the mountain range that seems so impossibly far away. Unfortunately, Klairence knows that getting into Ishlak is not realistic in the least. Ishlak doesn't look kindly upon visitors, or non-karanos in general. Klairence sighs, looking up at the mountains majestic peak, knowing he'll never get to see the other side of those gorgeous gray pillars. 

"Wait... what's that?" Juniper asks, pointing ahead. A group of figures emerge from a separate path. The four of them stop. Heven pulls everyone to the side, as they stare at the group approaching them. Klairence realizes with horror who they are.

About 30 karanos march down the path in an orderly fashion. They've got armor and weapons but the biggest giveaway is the huge Ishlakan flag rising out of the center of the group. Fana stares on, covering her mouth with her hand and stumbling back a bit. A group of Ishlakan soldiers. Headed straight on the path to Clarenzia. Fana looks as if she's just seen a ghost, her eyes wide and scared. She trembles a bit, and she looks like she's about to throw up. Karanos are one thing. But soldiers, those are another. Juniper notices Fana's reaction and grabs her hand, clutching it.

"Breath, Fana. You've got to breath." Juniper whispers to Fana. Fana squeezes Junipers hand, taking deep, quiet breaths. She closes her eyes, hoping that if she can't see them, they can't see her. Klairence turns to Heven, worry in his eyes.

"What do we do?!" Klairence asks, whispering loudly in Heven's ear.

"What do you mean? We let them pass, of course." Heven replies, also whispering.

"Are you serious? They're obviously headed for Clarenzia. They're gonna attack another village!"

"We don't know that!" Heven starts to get flustered, as both him and Klairence lean in, glaring at each other. "They could be going anywhere, Klairence."

"You and I both know exactly what's going on here." Klairence is practically at Heven's throat. "You're the one who says to always help others, do the 'right' thing. What about now."

"This isn't a game, Klairence!" Although they are whispering, they still manage to be angry about it. "We can't go around attacking armies with no good reason! This is politics we're getting into, not some petty thieves!"

"Well we can't just do nothing-" Heven stops Klairence by placing his hand over his mouth. Klairence rips his hand off and turns around. The legion of soldiers has gotten too close. They pass by, not giving the travelers a second glance. The four stare blankly at the soldiers as they march on, disappearing down the path. Nothing. Klairence's face turns red. He did nothing. Heven steps back onto the path, straightening his tunic. He looks straight ahead.

"Let's go." He announces in a serious tone.

"Excuse me?!" Juniper is the one to shout this time. She remains on the side of the road, holding a panicking Fana. Fana has her eyes squeezed shut, and her breathing is heavy and uneven. She clutches Juniper's hand like it's the only thing keeping her from drowning in an impossibly deep pool. "Can you wait one moment, Heven! My lord." Juniper glares at Heven, before turning back to Fana and attempting to calm her down. Fana shakes her head, pushing away Juniper's attempts.

"I'm fine." Fana whispers. Juniper cries out in protest, grabbing Fana's arm and talking to her. But Heven and Klairence are no longer paying attention to them.

"I can't believe this!" Klairence shouts, fuming. He marches onto the path, getting all up in Heven's face. "You just let them leave! What if they go off and hurt another village! Don't you care  _ soooo _ much about protecting people or whatever!" Heven's face turns red as he pushes Klairence away. Klairence stumbles back, shocked. 

"There was nothing we could do! The queen will have done something by now. This isn't our battle to fight!" Heven shouts. Klairence gestures angerly at Fana. 

"This is  _ her _ fight, you idiot! It wasn't my fight when you were attacked in Manlin, was it? Or have you forgotten about that by now?!" Heven is about to say more, but he's distracted by a sob that escapes Fana.

"Just stop yelling, for one second, please!" Fana shouts, tears starting to streak down her face. She buries her face in her hands, going quiet. Klairence and Heven freeze, looking at each other guiltily. Juniper gives them the meanest, ugliest glare they've ever seen, as she takes Fana's arm and starts marching down the path away from them.

"Look what you did, Klairence." Heven comments. Klairence's guilt fades, replaced with anger.

"Me? This is your fault!" Klairence jabs Heven in the chest with his finger, making sure to get his accusation across.

"Stop being so... immature!"

"I am NOT being immature!!"

"I never asked you to help me in Manlin. You did that yourself. And if you're so mad about this, then why are you still here! Nobody's making you stay!" Heven's voice begins to rise as he speaks.

"You know what? You're right. I'm going home. I'm done with this." Klairence turns on his heel, and stomps away, heading for a smaller dirt path that branches off from the main one. "Good luck finding your stupid crown!" Klairence crosses his arms like an angry toddler as he storms away. Heven turns his back towards Klairence, equally angry. He doesn't look back as Klairence disappears into the forest.

Klairence storms down the path, kicking up dirt. Heven's probably wondering when he's coming back. Well, too bad for him, he's not. Heven might not think Klairence was being serious, but he's dead serious. He's going home. All the way home. He's done with this adventure. It was stupid anyway.

Only about five minutes into his walking does Klairence realize this was probably a bad decision. First off, he didn't get his money from Heven. Klairence curses under his breath. He really should've remembered to get that. Second off, as his anger fades, he's realizing how maybe this isn't the best, or most mature, reaction to a little argument. Still, he pushes forward. He's not one to go back on his word, especially when his word is being pettily angry. But Klairence keeps getting this weird feeling. Like he's being...watched. He shrugs it off as paranoia, but something just feels off. An occasional noise. A shiver that runs down his spine. The whisper of the wind, trying to tell him something.

A few more minutes pass. Klairence approaches a shorter tree, one with a particularly low hanging branch. He is about to pass under it when suddenly, a face pops up in front of him.

"Hello!"


	14. The Threat

Klairence jumps back. Dangling upside down from the branch is none other than a dova man, who looks like he's in his early twenties. He is tall and lean, with red and black scales covering most of his body. About half of his face has scales etched onto it. His huge, black and red wings are folded neatly on his back, and his black claws dig into the branch as to keep him held there. His hair is an ashen red and it is scruffy and unkempt, not unlike Klairence's own hair, only a bit longer. Large, black horns emerge from the back of his skull, curling around his head. He has thin, red eyes that seem to stare straight into Klairence's soul and make him feel threatened, despite the dova's wide, fanged grin. He wears a neatly fitted black cape over a nice and breathy tunic, with knee-high boots that are strung with a shimmering black string. A well-fitted chest plate of armor rests on top of his tunic, and Klairence notices two relatively large daggers fastened to the side of his professionally cut leather belt. 

He drops down from the branch, standing in front of Klairence. He's about seven feet, a good foot or so taller than Klairence. Klairence stares up at the dova in shock. The dova smiles, giving Klairence a little wave. But somehow the smile feels off, like it's more malicious than kind. Klairence takes a small step back.

"I said hello, human. Do you guys not greet each other, or are you just particularly rude." The dova says in a joking manner. Klairence snaps out of his trance, fully analyzing the dova that stands before him. He rests his hand on his little dagger. Probably best to keep this within grabbing distance. The dova frowns, seeing Klairence's hesitance.

"Really? There's no need to be afraid kid, I'm not going to hurt you." The dova says, taking another step closer. Klairence slowly unsheathes his dagger, not believing him one bit. The dova sighs. "Believe me, if I wanted you dead," There's a sudden woosh, and before Klairence can even think about reacting, the dova is at his side. He grabs the dagger and whirls away, balancing it's sharp edge on his finger. He tucks the dagger under his cloak. "...you'd already be." Klairence whips around, facing the man. He grits his teeth. He's unarmed now. Not good. The dova smirks at him.

"Who are you?" Klairence shouts, still on edge. The dova, on the other hand, casually paces around. 

"The name's Ajax, kid. Commander Ajax." Commander Ajax walks up to Klairence and extends his hand. Klairence pulls his hand away, taking a few steps back, glaring at Ajax. Ajax drops his hand.

"So rude." Ajax comments, clearly more amused than annoyed. He dusts his hands off. 

"What'd you want?" Klairence shouts again. He tabs his foot nervously and the dusty ground, eyeing the area. He's surrounded by trees. Nowhere to run.

"Fine, fine, I suppose I'll just get to the point." Ajax yawns, his expression somewhat annoyed.

"Yeah, that'd be appreciated." Klairence mutters, following Ajax with his eyes. He'd love nothing more than to punch this guy in the face, but Klairence refrains from doing so. It wouldn't be the smartest choice, considering the circumstance. 

"Listen up. You seem like a smart kid, so I'm just going to trust that you've figured out what I'm trying to get." Ajax says, beginning to circle around Klairence. Klairence follows Ajax, spinning to make sure Ajax is never out of his eyesight. 

Klairence glares at Ajax. "The crown, right?"

"Yep. And I'll be honest here, kid, it's getting real annoying, watching you and your friends trudge across the countryside." Klairence stares, a mix of confusion and panic painted clearly on his face. 

"You've been...following us?" Klairence stares at Ajax, dropping his defensive stance a bit. How did he not notice? Ajax lets out a little chuckle.

"Well, duh. How else do you think I found you?" Ajax stops walking, pausing in front of Klairence. "But now that you're all split up, it causes a bit of a problem for me. We can't have you going home and blabbering all about this little journey, can we?" Ajax asks. Klairence narrows his eyes.

"Why not?" Klairence asks, staring down Ajax, shaking off his shock and going back on guard. Ajax just laughs.

"Obviously I'm not going to tell you. How ridiculous." Ajax shifts his expression, leaning down and putting his face dangerous close to Klairence's. "Why I'm doing what I am isn't for you to know." Klairence moves away from Ajax, still in a combat pose. He's ready for a fight at any moment. 

"Just get to the point. What do you want?" Klairence says, spitting on the ground. Ajax rolls his eyes, sighing. 

"Right, right. Always about the business, isn't it? I need those books, the ones that the feisty little princess of yours has." Ajax explains. Klairence doesn't like the direction Ajax is going, but he doesn't say anything about it. "I can't just roll up and take them, though, not without killing all of you. So, if you could go fetch those for me, maybe convince your friends to go home and stop fooling around too, it'd be most appreciated." Ajax pulls out a fat pouch. It jingles as he places it in his palm. "You'll be paid, of course. Seem to be the money-motivated type." Klairence eyes the money, somewhat tempted. He looks back up at Ajax.

"Give me back my dagger." Klairence demands. Ajax laughs a little.

"Oh, right. Forgot I had that." Ajax reaches into his cloak, tossing Klairence's dagger onto the ground like it's a worthless rock. Klairence cautiously snatches up the dagger, reattaching it to his belt and letting out a small sigh of relief. He feels at lot better with a weapon at his side, no matter how futile it might be. Ajax puts his hand on his hip. "Also, if you refuse my offer, I'm going to have to kill you." Klairence looks up, shocked.

"Uhmmm… what?" Ajax's words have not fully sunk into Klairence yet.

"Yep! Just business." Klairence realizes that Ajax isn't resting his hand on his hip, but rather, the handle of one his curved daggers. Not good at all. Klairence nervously swallows. Obviously it would make the most sense to just accept this guys offer, but something stops Klairence. He thinks about what he said before, when they were first attacked by some dova soldiers. How he said they must be after the crown for some big reason. Klairence swallows his fear, looking Ajax right in the eyes.

"What do you want the crown for?" Klairence asks, his face dead serious. Ajax's smile fades.

"I told you, that's not for you to know." Ajax looks down at Klairence. "You're not seriously considering denying me... are you?"

Klairence's confidence fades a bit, but his thoughts keep slipping out of his mouth. "I'm just thinking that if you want it so bad, there must be a reason," Klairence's eyes narrow into small slits. "And if you're going this far, it's gotta be a really,  _ really _ good reason." Ajax takes a step closer to Klairence, but Klairence doesn't move away. He flinches, but holds his ground, feet planted on the dirt.

"I've got orders, kid." Ajax crouches down, lowering his face to Klairence's, their noses practically touching. "And I  _ don't _ disobey orders." Klairence boldly shoves Ajax away. Ajax stumbles back, surprised. "Oh, you're a feisty one too!"

"Just go away." Klairence says bitterly. He's so sick of dealing with this, his head so jammed full of thoughts and spite that there's no room for fear. Ajax doesn't laugh this time.

Ajax takes a menacing step towards Klairence. "I don't want to hurt you, so just accept the deal, and get me those books." Klairence doesn't speak. Ajax stands up and runs his clawed fingers through his ruffled hair, letting out an exasperated sigh. Klairence swallows hard as his self-preservation takes a back seat.

Klairence speaks before his fear can creep into his skin and force him to make the smart decision. "No." Ajax stares at Klairence blankly. Then he sighs, shaking his head and twirling his dagger into one hand. "I hate this part of the job."

Klairence's eyes widen, as he truly realizes what he has just done, his skin prickling up as he can no longer keep his rising panic at bay. He's in a lot of trouble now. Ajax leaps forward, moving faster than lighting. Klairence attempts to dodge, but is not nearly fast enough. Ajax's claws catch his shoulder, slamming him into the trunk of a nearby tree. Ajax holds Klairence up, his sharp talons digging into Klairence's shoulder. Klairence winces. Ajax growls at Klairence, his serpentine tongue curling into a snarl. Blood trips down Klairence's shoulder, bleeding through his rough shirt. 

"Apparently you're a lot stupider than you look." Ajax quips. But no smile crosses his face. He looks serious, angry and a little bit... sad. His hand grips a little tighter on his dagger. "I already told you that I don't disobey order- GAH!" Ajax turns his head around just in time to see Juniper's face as she kicks him square in the back. Ajax falls on his knees from the shock, releasing his grip on Klairence. Juniper uses Ajax's back as a springboard, launching into an elegant backflip right over Ajax's head. She lands in front of him, her feet barely stirring up the dirt on the ground. She grabs Klairence's arm and dashes out of the way, just as Ajax pulls out his dagger and lodges it into the trunk of the tree where Klairence just sat.

"How on Inara did you do THAT?!" Klairence shouts, scrambling to stand up. Juniper stands in front of him, breathing heavily.

"Gymnastics." Juniper answers breathlessly. "I used to take... gymnastics." Ajax stands, taking a breath. He casually dusts off his cloak, dirt falling off of it and gliding to the ground. Ajax stands, eerily calm in front of the panicky Klairence and Juniper. Klairence watches Ajax suspiciously, whipping out his own dagger. Juniper stands as she puts her hand on Klairence, subtly lowering his dagger as she takes a few steps back. 

"What're you doin-" Klairence pauses, as Heven comes tearing down the path, sword in his hand. He slides into place beside Juniper, not giving Klairence a glance. Ajax groans in annoyance. 

"Great, now there's three of you." Ajax comments, crossing his arms. He taps his foot impatiently, looking up at the sky. The sun is starting to set. He makes a  _ tsk _ sound with his mouth, then looks back to the group. He mutters something under his breath. "Ugh. Hate to cut this little meeting short, but I've got to go. But don't worry," He smiles a bit, winking at Klairence. "I'm watching." He then leaps into the air, extending his wings and letting them carry him away with a few powerful flaps into the fading daylight. Klairence lets out a long breath, slumping his shoulders. Then the pain comes on. He grits his teeth, looking over to his shoulder, which is still dripping blood. His tunic is torn, the sleeve just dangling by threads. He instinctively moves his hands to cover the wound, wincing. 

Heven sheathes his sword, looking down the path as to ensure he won't make eye contact with Klairence. Fana emerges from a bush, and she comes running down the path, facing Heven.

"I-I'm sorry I didn't help H-" Heven puts his hand up, signaling to Fana that she doesn't need to apologize. Fana shuts up and nods, speed walking over to Juniper and silently taking her place beside her. Juniper turns to face Klairence.

"Are you ok?" She asks. Klairence nods, wincing. Juniper sets her hand on his good shoulder, sitting him down. Unlike Klairence, she seems to have put aside their earlier argument for the time being. She pulls out a few bandages, obviously running low on them, and applies them to his wound. It stings, but the cuts aren't too deep. He should be fine.

"Thanks." Klairence says. Juniper nods once, helping Klairence up. "You showed up just in time." 

"It was Heven's idea to come find you. Thank him, not me." Juniper points to Heven. Heven waves his hand in a dismissive gesture.

"You forgot to take your money. I figured you would want it." Heven says. He doesn't turn back to face Klairence. Klairence walks up behind Heven, looking at the ground. An icky feeling settles in his stomach. He's really not sure what to say.

"I... thanks. I don't need it though. I, uh..." Klairence starts to panic, knowing what he wants to say but having no idea how to say it. The words all become a jumbled mess in his brain, and indiscernible amalgamation of all the wrong things to say. He clasps his hands together, nervously swallowing.

"If you want to come back you can." Heven says darkly. He doesn't sound very happy about it. "But don't expect me to pay for your supplies." Klairence nods, not that Heven can see him. Heven starts walking forward, and Klairence follows, although a few paces behind him. Juniper runs to catch up with Klairence, Fana following her lead.

"Just let him calm down, Klairence." Juniper says, attempting to comfort Klairence. Klairence nods, trying to believe what Juniper says. But a rock of guilt sits in his stomach, and he feels like it won't be going away anytime soon. 

"You're not mad, Juniper?" Klairence asks. Juniper looks a little surprised. 

"Oh no, I'm fine." She reaches out, holding Fana's hand. Fana walks silently beside them. "Now, what was that dova all about?" 

"He said his name was commander Ajax. He must be someone high up from Dovgarde. Apparently he's been... following us or something." Klairence says, pushing his thoughts about Heven away. Juniper looks up, thinking.

"Why did he attack you?"

"He wants the crown, for some reason. Said he has 'orders.' I'm still trying to figure it out myself. He wanted me to, uh, steal your books." Klairence decides to leave out the part about Ajax's threatening to kill Juniper, Fana, and Heven. Klairence figures that'd just add more fuel to the fire. Juniper considers this.

"Odd... well, let's just hope we don't run into him again." 

Klairence nods. "Yeah... let's hope."

Ajax reaches the castle. He knows that the travelers have gotten even closer to The Marsh by now, despite his flying as fast as he can. He doesn't care. Right now, he has to deal with surviving the next hour of his life. He steps into the castle, his claws echoing down the ancient stone halls. Tapestries dangle from the walls, and barbaric torches light his way through the shadowy cavern of hand-placed brick. He hasn't entered from the main entrance, of course. He's a commander. The normal rules don't apply.

The castle feels empty, with his feet tapping on the stone floors being the only noise to fill the echoing space. He dodges through a few more dimly lit hallways, opening up into the barracks. Soldiers stay here, chatting and rough-housing. They all become silent, when Ajax enters the room, making themselves appear busy. He passes through, not giving them a second glance. They're afraid of him, as they should be. 

A few more hallways, and he's almost there. He steps into the grand throne room, the stone arches soaring high above his head. Massive tapestries hang here, and a rug rolls through the whole room. Tables and chairs of oaken wood are scattered about the sides, filled with court officials gorging themselves on fine wine and cheese while discussing whatever business matters they find important at the moment. And in the front of the grand hall, perched on a throne of silver and stone, is the queen. Javina. She sits on her throne, looking bored as she discusses politics with her royal advisor, a stuffy little dova man that Ajax despises. Ajax approaches the throne, un-announced. He's one of the few people in the palace who would do this, but he isn't afraid of Javina. He respects her, she respects him. He needs her, she needs him. It's as simple as that.

Javina is an intimating figure, though. Her eyes are thin and orange. She has incredibly sharp fangs and a serpentine tongue that slithers about her mouth as she yawns, openly sick of her advisor's constant blabbering. She has very light blond hair surrounding her head in thick and condensed curls, and a golden headpiece with a shining ruby embedded in it rests elegantly on her forehead. Her claws are sharp and black, on both her hands and feet. They glisten in the sunlight flowing in from huge windows that line the walls of the space. 

Scales of orange and red crawl up her exposed legs and on half of her side, as well as both of her shoulders. Her face, however, only has scales around her snake-like eyes. Her wings are massive, even when folded, and are tipped with points as sharp as her claws. She's wearing a light pink dress trimmed with gold and no sleeves. Brown twine holds it to her waist, and a cut in the dress exposes one of her legs almost completely. Her feet are wrapped tightly in royal golden sandals. She looks up, seeing Ajax approach the throne, and shoves her advisor away impatiently. He frowns, dusting off his layered gray robes and hastily walking away, presumably to go bother somebody else. Ajax approaches the throne and bows.

"Ajax! You're back." Javina sighs, relieved. "It was getting so dull around here. Oh, sorry, you can stand." She waves her hand. Ajax stands up, avoiding eye contact. Javina is not his favorite person, and he does not appreciate the way she acts like he's an old friend, even though most would kill to be treated like this by the queen. "What news do you bring?" Javina asks, her momentary excitement fading away as she sinks back into her throne.

"I, ahem, uh..." Ajax suddenly freezes up. He really screwed up back there. He might have... fudged the meaning of his orders a bit. He just wanted to do what he thought was best for the situation, even though Javina usually doesn't appreciate the ideas or opinions of others. His nerves begin to rise, as he imagines all of the ways the next few minutes of him talking could permanently ruin, or end, his life. He swallows, pushing down his panic. He's the best commander and spy Dovgarde has seen in a long time. Javina needs him around.  _ I'll be fine, I'll be fine, I'll be fine. _ He thinks to himself, taking a long breath as he being to speak. "I lost the kids and... now they know I'm after them. Know we're after them." Javina's nonchalant façade drops. She stops admiring her claws and looks up, a blank stare on her face. She grasps the edges of her throne, her claws digging into the stone, as she leans forward, staring right into Ajax's eyes.

"You. What."


	15. Arguments

A small fire is going. Juniper, Fana, and Heven sit on assorted rocks. Heven busies himself by reading the books and analyzing, or at least pretending, to analyze maps. Klairence munches on an apple he just picked, not really enjoying its taste. He keeps looking over at Heven, but Heven never looks up at him. Juniper and Fana sit away from Klairence, playing some sort of card game with a deck Juniper snagged from the palace. Juniper suddenly stands up.

"We're running low on food. Fana and I should go find some more." Juniper says, making sure Heven can hear. Heven looks up from his book, somewhat disgruntled.

"It's fine, Juniper. Besides, it's getting late-" Heven begins, but Juniper has already begun to walk away, dragging a rather confused Fana behind here. She waves her hand about dismissively.

"No, it's fine. The smoke is giving me a headache anyway. We'll be back!" And with that, she and Fana are gone. Heven grumbles a bit, then looks back down at his book. Klairence glares off into the direction that Juniper left. Oh, she thinks she's so clever, leaving Klairence alone with Heven so they  _ have _ to talk. Just for that, Klairence decides he won't talk to Heven. Nope, he won't say a single word.

"So... are you going to say anything?" Klairence asks not minutes after this silent agreement with himself. The words just slip out of his mouth. Heven looks up, and then back down.

"No." Klairence refrains from making a joke about him just talking. Now's not the time. Klairence starts to get impatient.

"C'mon Heven, help me out here. At least I'm trying to smooth this over." Klairence stands up, starting to pace through the gritty dirt. Heven flips the page of his book, ignoring Klairence. Klairence lets out an annoyed sigh, marching over to Heven. He snatches the book out of Heven's hands. Heven looks up, glaring.

"Klairence, give my book back." This time, Klairence ignores him, closing the book and tucking it into Heven's backpack. He does a quick turn, looking down at Heven.

"No. We need to talk." Klairence says. He sits down on the rock next to Heven. Neither of them look very happy. "What is it you're so mad about?"

"I don't know, I guess just you running off alone." Heven says angerly. Klairence scoffs at him.

"Really, I'm  _ trying _ to be civil here. Can't you be a little more mature?"

"So I'm the immature one now?" Heven glares at Klairence. "That seems a bit hypocritical. One argument and you just... walk away." Heven's tone begins to shift, becoming a little less angry and more sad. "Were you really only sticking around for the money?"

Klairence looks at Heven, surprised. "What? No, of course not did you seriously... did you seriously think I'm that shallow?" Klairence tries to be a offended. But he really can't find it in him. He just feels bad, not angry. 

"Then why'd you run off to go home?"

"I don't know I was just... mad, ok? That you just let those soldiers walk away." Heven sighs, looking down at the dirt. He stirs it up a bit with his foot. 

"We can't just go around playing hero, Klairence. Politics are complicated." Heven says. 

"I know that I just thought about Fana and.... oh." Klairence stops. "Fana. We didn't even think about-"

"Oh dear Ka." Heven interrupts, the same realization hitting him. "We completely forgot about her." So the two sit there, staring off, regretting every choice they've made in the past twenty-four hours.

"I'm sorry, Heven." Klairence finally spits out after a few awkward moments. Heven looks up, then back down at the ground.

"I'm sorry, too." Heven pauses, then smiles up a Klairence. Klairence smiles back.

"Friends?" Klairence extends his hand. Heven nods, shaking his hand.

"Friends." The guilt weighing down in Klairence's stomach lessens. Then he pauses.

"Aw, dammit!" He suddenly bursts.

"What?"

"We did exactly what Juniper wanted us to do! Her stupid little plan worked!" Klairence says, kicking the dirt. Heven laughs.

"Oh, of course she did." Klairence crosses his arms grumpily.

"She's too good at this." Klairence pouts. He feels a lot better, even if he doesn't show it. He then turns to face Heven, a little grin on his face. "Also you still owe me money." 

Heven laughs. "I have a feeling I'm going to have to owe you a lot of things." Klairence laughs a little at that, too. 

Juniper and Fana return a few minutes later. They snuff out the fire and go to sleep underneath the endless stars. 

"Brother!" Leyla is jumping on Klairence's face. He opens his eyes to find himself lying down in a huge field of tall grass. The sun is shining, and bright poppies bloom all around him. As he stands up, he realizes that the field spreads on for what seems like eternity. A single tree sits in front of him. But it's ok. This is all normal. Leyla grabs Klairene's hand, laughing and smiling as she drags him toward the tree. Klairence laughs and smiles too. Underneath the tree is a woman, his mother, humming a tune as she stitches up a quilt. Her face is bright and healthy, her skin luminous rather than sickly, and hair shimmering with cleanliness. She smiles up at Klairence.

"Hello, honey!" She says softly. Klairence smiles, and tries to talk, but no words come out. Huh. Weird. Suddenly, he hears crying. He whips his head around to see where the noise is coming from. Leyla has dissappeared. The sky begins to darken. He feels the wind pick up, and turns around to warn his mother. But now she's gone, too. He turns around, heading towards the crying. It gets louder and louder. Eventually, he finds a shrub. He forces it open, revealing a little girl. His eyes widen.  _ Fana _ . A huge gust of wind blows by, forcing Klairence to close his eyes. When he opens them again, the girl is gone. The wind begins to rush by even faster, swirling around him in a torrent. He crouches down closing his eyes, trying to scream.

Klairence bolts awake, breathing heavy. He feels around him. It's fine. He's still in the woods. He slows his breathing. It was just a nightmare. But then, his ears perk up. He hears something, something that sounds like... crying. He scrambles up, turning around. It's still the dead of night. He walks through the grass, following the sound until he finds a bush. He peers around to see Fana, clutching her knees, crying.

"Fana?" Klairence asks, his face turning pale. What could be wrong. Fana jolts up, whipping her head around so fast Klairence swears it must be painful. Her eyes widen, and then she quickly turns away, frantically wiping her face with the sleeves of her nightgown. Klairence sits down beside Fana. "What's wrong?"

"N-Nothing." Fana mutters, still refusing to look Klairence in the face. Klairence is not convinced in the slightest. 

"Come on, Fana, we don't need to do the whole 'I'm fine' thing. What's wrong?" Klairence says, concerned. Fana sniffles a little.

"Really, it's nothing." Fana turns her head, smiling at Klairence. "I'm ok now." Klairence frowns. Her smile looks sad. 

"Fana, please. I can go get Juniper if you want-" 

"No no! It's fine! I just..." Fana trails off, leaving Klairence puzzled. Why doesn't she want to see Juniper? Are they fighting or something? Fana sighs, burying her face in her arms, which are resting on her knees. Her hooves tap the dirty ground. "I-I'm sorry, Klairence." Klairence looks confused.

"What do you mean? Fana, you have no reason to apologize." Klairence leans over. Fana's voice starts to become harder to hear. She's crying again. 

"I just... you and Heven were so mad at each over the soldiers a-and I feel like if I..." Fana takes a deep breath, wiping her tears and looking Klairence in his eyes. "If I wasn't so sensitive about it, you wouldn't have fought. It wouldn't have been a big deal." She looks down at the ground. "My problems aren't yours." Klairence looks away, feeling awful. Of course she feels like it's her fault. Klairence feels like slamming his head into the ground, but he doesn't. This is no time for self-pity and guilt. He looks at Fana.

"No, I'm sorry. It's not your fault. We argued, we made up, that's that. It might not be perfect but..." Klairence looks up at the millions of stars. "I guess that's just life, right?" Fana looks at the ground.

"Yeah, I guess it is. I'm sorry, I just get so-"

"It's alright, Fana."

"I'm trying not to be so much of a burden." Fana says. Klairence shakes his head.

"Don't. You're not a burden." Klairence says firmly. Fana looks at him. "You're a part of our group. A weird, mismatched, confusing group of nonsense, but a group nonetheless." But Fana doesn't smile. She continues to stare down at the ground.

"Why don't I feel bad about it, Klairence?" Fana is speaking so quietly now that Klairence can barely hear her.

"What?"

"About them. My whole family's gone and yet I-" Fana bites her lip. "I'm a bad person."

Klairence wants to deny that immediately, to tell her that she's wonderful and kind, but he feels like that won't help. Instead, he stays quiet. He thinks about what to say. And then the most intelligent thing he's ever said before manages to slip out of his mouth.

"That's for you to decide, Fana. Nobody else can tell you if you're good or bad." He smiles at her. "But if it's any help, I think you're pretty great."

Klairence stands up, beginning to walk over to his sleeping spot. "Wait!" Fana calls out, standing up as well. He looks back at her. "Thank you." She then runs off back to camp. Klairence waits, and then smiles, walking back as well. He's long overdue for a nightmare-free sleep.

Javina's room is a mess. She doesn't care. It will get cleaned up. She had to take it all out somewhere. Ajax is lucky. Ajax is lucky he is who he is. Because if he wasn't, he wouldn't be sitting in his cosy little commander apartments. This wouldn't have been accepted. Javina remembers her deep breaths. She remembers her masks. They line the walls of her room. They follow her around every day. A mask for every person. A mask for every place. A mask for every situation. She looks in her now-cracked mirror, at her face without a mask. Today was...frustrating. But her masks are tough. She's only let one of them slip off once.

And that would never happen again.


	16. Klairence, Books, and Horrible Puns

The next day every one heads off to the nearest little town, rejuvenated. It's like every other little town they've been to, except this time they're smart enough to hire a wagon to get to The Marsh.

"The Marsh is a ways away," Heven says. "Riding in a wagon will help us rest out feet a little."

"We're starting to run low on money, though." Klairence says, bringing up a fair point. He's only got a little, and Fana didn't have any in the first place. Heven's trying to save his, too. They're pretty much relying on Juniper's royal riches at this point. 

"It will be fine." Heven assures them. "Now lets at least try to enjoy ourselves." Klairence nods, agreeing with Heven. He can tell everyone's a little on edge. 

"The Marsh seems far away," Klairence pauses, a small smile creeping onto his face. "And I can feel a  _ distance _ between us." 

Heven blinks. "Was... was that a pun?"

Klairence sighs. "It was an attempt. I thought we could lighten up after all of the life-threatening fights recently, but I guess you're not  _ dying _ to hear more." Klairence smirks as he listens to Juniper groaning.

"I hate puns." She complains, burying her face in her hands. Fana giggles. She glares up at Fana. "Don't encourage him." 

" _ Wheel _ you just give me a chance?" Klairence is still grinning. Juniper groans. "Or  _ wood _ you rather me stop making puns about this wagon?" Klairence makes a fake sad face. "Aw, do you want me  _ wagone _ ?"

"One more pun and I'm wagoing to stab you." Juniper forces herself not to smile, but Klairence knows she wants to.

"Woah! No need to get violent. I'm just-" Klairence glances at the horses pulling the wagon, then back to Juniper with a smirk. "- _ horsing _ around." Fana suddenly bursts out laughing.

"These are the worst jokes I've ever heard!" Fana exclaims, still laughing. Klairence can't help but smile a little. Bad jokes always make him feel better. Always made him feel better.

Leyla loves jokes. One day, she found a whole book of them, in a chest full of dad's stuff. The same chest that Klairence found the necklace in. She ran around with the book, trying to find someone to read them. Klairence wished that he could read, if only for that one moment. He wanted her to hear some of his old jokes. She would've loved them.

Their village is small, but big enough to have about two other kids her age. Both aviatars. One of them took her book, but she didn't have anyone to tell. She came home crying, but not because she was sad she lost it. She felt bad. She knew it was dad's, and she knew how much it meant to Klairence. It had made Klairence feel all bitter and sad. A little girl shouldn't have to worry about getting things stolen, and then sobbing out apologies. She should have him there to tell her the jokes himself. She should have a mother to tell her stories. A brother who can read.

Klairence stares at the books. He asked Heven to see them, both of them, carefully bound. One of them is rough and brown, like most books Klairence has seen. But the other is green, with an intricate design. It has beautiful, swirling words written on it. He flips through the aged paper, admiring it. He wishes he could read it, figure out what all those scribbles mean. Heven looks up at him.

"Find anything else useful, Klairence?" Heven asks, peering at Klairence from across the wagon. Klairence freezes up, caught on the spot. He shakes his head, slamming the book shut.

"Nope. Here." He hands the books back to Heven, who eyes Klairence suspiciously while gently tucking the books back into his gradually wearing down sack. Heven looks at Klairence, but Klairence refuses to look back. Instead he just looks off at the somewhat boring scenery.

"Something wrong, Klairence?" Heven taps Klairence's shoulder, forcing Klairence to turn around and look right at him. 

Klairence quickly shakes his head. "Nope. Why?"

"You just seem... weird? I don't mean to be rude, but-"

"I'm fine." There's a long pause.

"Do you still not trust me?" 

"What? Of course I trust you." Klairence scoffs at Heven. But Heven is having none of it.

"You can tell me what's wrong."

"Not much to tell." Klairence's words grow an edge to them. He turns back around and stares into the dirt the wagon rolls on. Klairence can hear some shuffling noises. Then Heven once again taps him on the back. "I said I'm fine-" Klairence stops. Heven is sitting there, the books in his hands. He looks down at them, and then back to Klairence.

"Did you read something in these?" Heven is just trying to be nice, and Klairence knows that. But he still wishes Heven would just let it go. Klairence doesn't think Heven would understand. Most people in Apa can read, it's sort of a given. Towns have schools, even the small ones. Klairence's town just had a little space where a few times a week one of the aviatars would teach the little ones something. Klairence's father tried to get him to go, but he just didn't want to. Even little Klairence was too worried about embarrassing himself. Then after his father passed, it was out of the question. There simply wasn't time. Now, they've stopped giving those talks. Parents are just supposed to teach children. But his mother and father never learned to read back in the forest of humans. So Klairence can't. He wishes he had asked around when he was little and cute, when someone could have taught him. But it's a little too late now. 

Klairence's face reddens a bit, but he swallows the momentary panic. "No, it's fine. Seriously. Travel's probably getting to me, that's all." Again, Heven isn't having any of it. He squints at Klairence, and then it's like something hit him. 

"You can't read, can you?" Klairence's stomach drops, and his face turns bright red. For some inexplicable reason, he feels so ashamed. He fiddles with his hand, letting an uncomfortable silence rest between him and Heven.

"Maybe." Klairence mutters the word very quietly. He's so glad Juniper and Fana are asleep, taking a nap on the other side of the wagon. There's another long, awkward silence. Klairence wants to leap off of the wagon right here, right now.

Klairence expects Heven to ask questions. About why, and how, and all sorts of other things about himself he doesn't want to answer. About how miserable it can be sometimes. But Heven asks no such questions. Instead, he simple says, "Do you want me to teach you?"

The red on Klairence's face fades, and he looks to Heven. "What?"

"Do you want me to teach you.To read."

"Yeah. Yeah, I do."


	17. Friendly Citizens

Unlike the soaring plains of Apa, the endless forests of Clarenzia, or the imposing mountains of Ishlak, The Marsh does not have an attractive landscape. As the wagon rolls further along, the land seems to get more muddy. Trees fade from bright greens to more murky colors, like the ugly shades of grays and browns. Everything sags and drips with an ever present moisture, and the whole place gives off an unpleasent vibe. And smell.

The trees have vines of a deep and ugly green climbing down from their dirty branches, and even the sun seems to shine less brightly as its light forces its way through tough, gray clouds. The wagon slows, its wheels no longer able to push through the ground of mush. All four travelers are forced to emerge from the wagon. They trudge through the mud, officially in The Marsh. 

"Ugh, I did not expect it to be like... this." Juniper says, carefully wading through the dirt. She and Heven look disgusted, obviously not the most acquainted with this type of mud. Klairence shuffles through it, not bothered very much, and the sticky dirt slides off of Fana's hooves quite easily. She doesn't seem to mind the mud sticking to the fur on her legs.

Klairence looks back at Juniper. "It's called 'The Marsh.' Not sure what you expected." Juniper shrugs, probably not sure what she expected. It's no secret that The Marsh isn't exactly a nice place. Mostly salskins live here, and salskins aren't exactly known for their kindness and hospitality. As they walk the sorta-path, they notice some salskins walking by. Most of them walk through the mud with ease, and completely ignore the travelers. Some give them funny looks. Others look at their pouches plump with coins, greed and hunger in their snake-like eyes. Heven, obviously uncomfortable, shifts his coin pouch out of view, and shifts his tunic, making it a little less perfect. He eyes the passerby's with more distrust than the others. 

"There's a town up ahead. We should buy some weapons." Heven says, catching Klairence a little off guard. Heven quickly clarifies. "For the girls. They don't have anything." Klairence nods, but continues to stare at Heven. Heven adjusts his collar every so often, wiping sweat from his brow. 

"You're not afraid of theives, are you?" Klairence asks, a little annoyed. Heven is quick to deny this.

"No, I just thought-" Heven stops, noticing the death glare Klairence is giving him. "The Marsh has the highest rate of crime out of all the kingdoms. That's a fact. We must protect ourselves." 

Klairence crosses his arms, still glaring. "Are you sure you're not being a little too...assuming?" Heven swallows, facing straight ahead. 

"I'm just being cautious."

"Remember to be open-minded, too."

The four approach the town, staring at it in shock, but not quite awe. Water, thick with plants and mud, runs all around large plots of elevated ground. The ground has houses and shacks on it, although they're very odd. Each house is short and rectangular, and they are stacked up. A serious of precarious ropes and ladders connect each house, and the largest stack they see is of four whole houses. The houses are made of wood and the windows of unclean glass, which most likely sea glass washed into the marshy area around them. Klairence walks onto the first little land island after crossing a small cobblestone bridge. The water obviously isn't that deep, but he appreciates the crumbling bridge. It's certainly better than nothing. There's a little cobblestone town square with a well in the center, surrounded by dimly lit shops. A few salskins wander the streets, but there aren't many. 

The sun is setting, and Klairence can see a salskin child playing around outside. His mother sees the oncoming night and grabs the child, swiftly dragging him inside their little hut. Overall, it's a disturbing scene. The mother looked scared. The few scattered salskins pick up their pace as well, hurrying along to whatever house they live in. Klairence picks up his pace, and the others follow. They all quickly figure out that being out here in the night might not be the best idea. They spot a small inn around the townsquare and decide to head in. Better to be inside somewhere than nowhere.

The inn is very dim and small, lit mostly by a little fire inside a stone pit in the center of the space. A few doors line the wooden walls, and a little bar counter sits at the front. The only other person they see in the place is an elderly salskin woman, humming as she sits behind the counter, knitting what appears to be a scarf. She has gray scales and small, rounded claws. Her hair is gray and tied in a neat bun on her head, and scales cover most, but not all of her body. She is wrapped in layers of cozy knitted clothing and is sitting on an old stool. She has one eye that is a pale yellow, but the other is a completely pearly white. Klairence realizes she is most likely blind in that eye. She notices the four entering and gives them a kind smile.

"Oh, hello there! And what can I do for your children?" She says. Her voice is a little scratchy, but generally feels quiet and pleasent. Klairence can't help but feel a little more at ease. He notices Juniper and Fana are smiling, too. Heven, however, looks stern and a little bit nervous. Klairence steps in front of Heven, deciding to do the talking for now.

"Hello, we were wondering if we could stay the night here?" Klairence asks politely, approaching the bar. The old lady nods her head, slowly rising from her stool.

"Of course, of course. How many rooms?" She then looks at them with her good eye, and a smile spreads across her face. "Oh, so many of you! And from so many places! We don't get travelers very often." She walks over to them, looking them over. Klairence laughs a little. She reminds him of a little old grandma. She briskly turns around, headed for the fire. "Let me make you some tea."

"Oh no, really you don't have to-"

"Nonsense! You look weary. I will make you some tea." She rushes over to the fire, which has a pot resting over it. She pours some water in the pot, beginning to make some tea. Klairence sighs, walking in to sit around the fire. He really has no choice now, and he doesn't mind. They sit there, chatting with this old woman over a few cups of surprisingly good tea. Heven doesn't talk much at first, but eventually he gets going, explaining some of the things they've been through so far. The old lady listens intently, clinging to every word.

"Do you live here alone?" Klairence asks her. She laughs, shaking her head. "Oh, no. My son owns this place. But he's visiting his sister right now. So I'm in charge!" She laughs a little. They all laugh with her. Heven has a small smile planted on his face, sipping his tea. Eventually, though, it grows too far into the night, and the four of them decide it would be best to sleep.

"Aren't you going to bed, Klairence?" Heven asks, about to duck into his room. Klairence shakes his head.

"I need to think a little." Klairence's smile fades. The inn might be nice, but it's stuffy. And despite Klairence's feelings, thoughts of Ajax linger in his head, preventing him from really relaxing. "I'm just going to step outside." 

Heven frowns. "Want me to come out with you?" Klairence gives him a reassuring smile. 

"I'm good. I'll only be a few minutes." Klairence assures Heven. Heven goes to sit by the fire. 

"All right... don't get too cold." Klairence steps out into the cool night air. The moon is only a sliver above his head, and it's shrouded in fog. The little square is completely empty. Klairence lets out a sigh of relief, relishing in the breeze sweeping across his face. In front of the inn is a little bench that Klairence decides to plop down on. He looks around at the dead, muddy streets squeezed behind the stacks of houses, thinking. It all just doesn't make sense to him. Ajax obviously isn't some petty theif, and he was following them.  _ Watching _ them. Klairence shutters a little thinking about it. The crown is just a thing, an artifact made of metal. Heven said that dova value material things, but so do merskins, and you don't see them sending out soldiers to find shiny pieces of jewelry. What does that crown mean? Nobody outside of Dovgarde knows what the political situation is like inside. Maybe it has something to do with that?

Klairence racing thoughts are abruptly stopped by a faint noise. Klairence stands up, alert. He walks a few paces, trying to discern where the noise came from. He peers around the side of the end, looking into a dark little strip of muddy ground between the inn and whatever building is beside it. He's about to turn around and head in when he hears a  _ whoosh _ from behind him. He spins around just in time to see a salskin slam into him. Klairence is shoved back, hitting the dirty wooden wall behind him. The salskin holds him there, a knife being held mere centimeters away from his throat. The salskin is wearing a hood, so part of his face is hidden. His arms and legs appear to be mostly covered in murky green scales, and his eyes are a deep orange. A patch of scales cover one of his eyes, but the rest of his face is made of pale skin. The black slits of pupils in his eyes narrow as he looks a Klairence.

One arm is stuck behind his back, squished behind him and the wall. His other arm is pinned by the salskin's sharp, clawed hand. Klairence growls, his dagger out of reach and neatly tucked on his belt. The edge of the salskin's blade drifts dangerously close to Klairence's neck. The salskin's green tail swirls around, and a lock of green hair, the same shade of his scales, falls from his black hood and onto his face.

"How much money ya got?" He mutters, quiet enough so that nobody around could hear. Not that there is anybody around. The square is completely empty. The knife's handle digs into the building behind Klairence. Klairence doesn't answer. Instead, he lifts up his leg, kneeing the salskin in his stomach as hard as he can. It's obvious the salskin doesn't expect this, as he quickly stumbles away, bumping into the other building. He doesn't stay stunned for long, however, as he swiftly slashes his arm, the knife whizzing through the foggy night air. Klairence ducks as swiftly as the wind, the knife taking off the very tips of his hair rather than his head. Klairence snatches his dagger off of his side and bounces back up, separating himself from any of the walls, his back facing the depths of the strange alley. 

Klairence takes a deep breath, surprisingly calm and collected. He's gotten better at this. He can tell. The salskin lunges, taking Klairence down and pinning him to the ground. Klairence's dagger lies flat across his stomach, but he is unable to life his arm. The salskin is far stronger than Klairence, and this is a struggle of brute strength. Klairence takes his free arm and swings at the salskin's face, with no real intention of hitting him. His attacker easily dodges the blow, but he releases his grip just enough so that Klairence can use his feet to shove him away. The salskin is shoved away, and Klairence rolls back, his dagger still firmly gripped in his hand, as he lands on one knee. A light sweat breaks out on Klairence's face; he is still too far away from the front of the inn to run. Suddenly, he hears the shout of a familiar voice.

"Klairence! I leave you alone for two minutes and you get in another fight! For the love of Ka." The salskin's eyes widen, and he turns around to see Heven standing at the end of the alley. Klairence stands up, looking to Heven.

"Heven! Great timing." He shouts back. Heven sighs.

"When you didn't come in after three minutes I assumed you got into some kind of trouble." Heven takes a few steps into the alley. The salskin looks between the two, and at Heven's fearsome sword resting casually in his hand. Klairence and Heven continue to have a conversation.

"Oh, ha ha. It's not my fault. I'm just a magnet for problems." Klairence responds.

"Sure, sure. Anyway, who's this guy?" Heven gestures to the salskin with his sword. 

"Some theif, I guess." The salskin hisses, obviously nervous. He looks right at Klairence, ready to make a break for it down the alley. But just then, Juniper drops down from the roof of the inn, landing beside Klairence.

"Could you guys be any louder?" Juniper says, standing beside a somewhat shocked Klairence. Klairence then starts beaming.

"Juniper!" He says. Juniper glares at the salskin.

"Heven said you might be in more trouble. Guess he was right."

"Is it another dova?" Fana emerges from in front of the inn, standing beside Heven. She sees the salskin, who is growing more worried by the second. She looks him up and down. "Oh, a salskin." The salskin looks for a way out, but he's completely surrounded. He starts to panic a bit, sweat running down his scaly face.

"Hey Fana!" Juniper waves across to Fana. "We were just about to fight this guy." The salskin, realizing how much trouble he's in, backs into the wall, hands raised.

"Look, I-I didn't realize there were this many of you." He says, his voice somewhat raspy and reptilian. The four surround him, not necessarily threateningly, but not like they're about to give him a hug, either. 

"What do you want exactly?" Heven asks seriously, pointing his sword at the salskin's chest. The sword's point still rests a few inches away from his heaving chest. The salskin growls.

"That's none of your business-"

"Oh, I think he wants money or something." Klairence says, shrugging. Heven lowers his sword a bit.

"That seems logical." The salskin lowers his hands, looking somewhat confused.

"You just wanted money? Why didn't you ask." Juniper says. She crosses the alley. "I can go grab some from inside." The salskin's fear fades, replaced with utter confusion.

"Uh...what?" He asks, looking between Juniper and the others that surround him. 

"We can't just give away our money to criminals, Juniper." Heven says, sighing. His sword is completely pointed down now. Juniper waves him off.

"I'm sure he has his reasons for being a theif. Besides, if giving him a little cash will keep him from taking someone else's money, I don't see the harm." Juniper dashes around the corner. Heven looks at Fana, but she just shrugs. Juniper does what she wants. 

"She's not wrong. I mean, I used to pickpocket people on occasion." Klairence says.

"Really Klairence?" Heven asks. Klairence shrugs, tucking his dagger back into his belt.

"Yep. Not my proudest moments, but I can't change that now." Heven shakes his head, disappointed. 

"I expected better from you, Klairence."

"I was just a kid. Don't tell me you never made any bad decisions when you were younger." Klairence retaliates. Heven blushes. He's definitely guilty of some bad decision making. The salskin stands there, listening to this exchange, extremely confused. He could easily stab any of them at any moment.

Fana approaches the salskin. "So, what's your name?" Still in a slightly shocked state, his name falls from his forked tongue.

"Jaa." He says, immediately regretting it. Ra'gui would be pissed if he found out he revealed his name.

"I'm Fana." Fana smiles a little at him. "I apologize for those two. They're really bad at focusing." Klairence and Heven are now chatting, having completely forgotten about Jaa. Fana sighs, shaking her head. "They'd be awful prison guards, I tell you." Juniper then comes tearing down the alley, toting her pouch of coins.

"I got it! Sorry I took so long." Juniper slows down as she approaches the group. She fishes out a couple of coins, placing them in her palm and extending her arm towards Jaa. "Here you go." Jaa eyes the coins suspiciously.

"You're seriously giving me money...after I tried to rob your friend?" Jaa asks slowly, still trying to comprehend the bizarre scenario. Juniper sighs. 

"Are you going to take it or not?" She asks. Jaa swiftly snatches the money from her hand, never taking his eyes off of her. He puts the coins in the pockets of his ragged pants. 

"You done, Juniper? I'm tired." Klairence says, yawning. Fana nods.

"I'm good. Let's head back in." They all turn away, heading for the exit of the alley. Juniper turns, facing Jaa one last time. 

"Try not to rob anyone else for me!" She shouts back before disappearing around the corner, leaving an incredibly confused Jaa standing alone in the mud, staring off to where they all left. 


	18. Love

Juniper lies awake in her bed. It's plenty cozy, at least compared to what they've been sleeping on for the past few nights. That's not the problem. The salskin they just half-fought isn't the problem, either. She just can't stop thinking about home. And not in a homesick kind of way. Quite the opposite, in fact. It seems like the longer she's away, the less she wants to go back. The less she wants to have to deal with whatever is waiting for her back at the palace. She curls up, holding her pillow close to her chest. She's so lucky. She has everything. Money, power, a nice house, good food, and education. She should be happy. So why isn't she? Why does she want to cry every time she remembers that she'll have to go back? That this will have to end?

She needs to get out of her own head. She walks out of her room, stumbling over to Fana's door and gently knocking on it. She hopes she hasn't woken Fana up. Fana answers the door almost immediately. 

"Juniper?" Fana asks softly, seeing the princess standing at her door. Fana has bags under her eyes. Seems like she hasn't been sleeping either. Juniper pauses, not sure what to say. She hasn't thought this far ahead.

"Fana? I'm so sorry if I woke you up, but I can't sleep at all." Juniper smiles sadly. "Can I come in?" Fana hastily nods.

"No, it's ok. I, uh, haven't been able to sleep much either." She opens the door for Juniper. "Come in."

Juniper and Fana end up sitting next to each other on the little bed in the room. Fana doesn't have a bag to hold her things, so the room is bare except for the bed and small end table that has a few wilting flowers resting on it. The only light is from a small candle lying on the table, that's obviously been lit for awhile. By not being able to sleep much, Fana must've meant she wasn't able to sleep at all.

"What's wrong, Juni?" Fana asks, seeing how down Juniper appears to be. Juniper sighs, resting her chin on her hands.

"Nothing, just... thinking about having to go home." Juniper turns to Fana. "Do you know what you're going to do after we're done with all of this?"

"I-I don't know." Fana admits shyly. "I haven't thought that far ahead."

"I hope you find somewhere to go." Juniper says with a genuine smile. But then her smile fades. "I'll have to go home."

"You're probably... not looking forward to that.'

"I just don't want to have to deal with Marven. And my dad." Juniper bites her lip. "The thing is... I was with Marven. Before. By choice." This catches Fana by surprise.

"Really?"

"Yes. We tried to be together, but it just didn't work.  _ We _ just don't work. He's not as great as everyone makes him out to be he's not... he's not right for me. And now I have to be with him. Forever."

"They're must be something you can do. You'll be the queen, right? You won't have to stay with him forever." 

"It's not that easy. Everyone wants me to marry him. It's for the good of the kingdom, it will solidify druid and manu relations it will make Clarenzia stronger, it-" Juniper looks down, beginning to cry. "I should just do it. I'm being selfish. This isn't about me, I know that. I just... don't want to." Quiet tears start to run down her cheeks, as she buries her face in her knees, drawing them close. "I just don't want to." There is a long pause. Fana lifts Juniper’s chin up with her fingers, tears resting in the corners of her emerald eyes. Juniper looks at Fana, her tears slowing. They look at each other, saying nothing. Then Fana leans forward and kisses her.

Juniper knows she shouldn't allow this. This isn't right. But she doesn't pull away. She holds on to the feeling, refusing to let it go. Her thoughts melting away like butter, the tears drying on her dark cheeks. Fana suddenly jerks away, covering her mouth with her hand.

"I-I'm so sorry, Juni, I shouldn't have-"

"It's ok Fana! Don't cry, it's..." Juniper pauses, the meaning of what she's saying hitting her like a brick. "...ok." Juniper turns away from Fana, staring at the wall. A silence hangs in the air for a few moments, until Fana speaks.

"What do we do now?" Fana asks, looking back at Juniper. Juniper wipes the last of her tears away with her sleeves. 

"I...I don't know." Juniper looks to the ground. "I really don't know." There's another long pause. Juniper then hops off of the bed, heading for the door. Fana sighs.

"Right, w-we should go to bed." Fana looks away, holding her tears. "Good night, Juniper." Juniper pauses at the doorway. She turns back to Fana. 

"I love you."

"... I love you too."


	19. The Marsh Market

The next morning is rather uneventful. The travelers wake up, thank the woman who runs the inn for her hospitality, (and discount), and head on their way.

"How far is The Marsh Market?" Klairence asks Heven as they begin to leave the town.

"Only about an hour or so away." Heven replies, looking at his map, which now has a few more tears in it. "The Marsh is remarkably small." And so, the walking begins.

Klairence notices that Juniper and Fana aren't chatting it up as they usually are. He falls back to stand by them.

"Sooo... how's it going?" Klairence says, trying to start up some kind of conversation.

"Good." Juniper states flatly. Klairence sends her a look, but she ignores him. He sighs, giving up any meaningful talk with them. Fana moves ahead, talking with Heven. Juniper just stares at the ground.

"Hey, what's going on with you two?" Klairence asks, giving in to his nosiness. Juniper crosses her arms with a  _ hmph _ .

"Nothing." Juniper says, but Klairence is stubborn. He's not giving up that easily.

"Oh, come on. You two are always talking." Klairence stops, shifting his tone from silly to concerned. "Is something wrong."

"Of course not, nothing's wrong," Juniper blushes looking away from him. "It's just complicated, ok?" Klairence frowns.

"You should go talk to her, then."

"It's not that simple."

"Uh, yeah it is. You go up and say something." Klairence sighs. "I won't eveasdrop, I promise." Juniper glares at him.

"Promise?"

"Yes. I promise." Klairence goes up, distracting Heven and letting Fana walk behind them to stand by Juniper.

"...hi Juni." Fana spurts out after a few paces of quiet walking.

"Hey." There's a pause.

"Why won't you talk to me?" Fana asks, sadness creeping into her voice. Juniper jerks her head up, looking at Fana's hurt face. "Is it because of last night? I...I thought you said it was ok I-"

"No, no no no it's ok." Juniper frantically reassures Fana. "I didn't know if you'd want to talk to me."

"Of course I want to talk to you." Fana says, her face turning a little red. "You're my favorite person to talk to."

"I..." Juniper wants to say something. She wants to say a lot of things. But she can't. She takes a deep breath. "We can't... be like that. You know?" 

Fana looks down. "I-I know. I wish you could forget."

"What?"

"Forget about him. And about all of that. All of the things you have to worry about," Fana bites her lip, holding back tears. "I wish I could forget it all too."

Juniper thinks on this. She stares at the ground, squeezing her eyes shut. There are too many things to think about. Too many things that are so, so complicated. She opens her eyes, looking at Fana. She grabs Fana's hand and smiles, a real, happy smile.

"Maybe I can forget. Just for now, anyway." A smile slowly creeps across Fana's face too. They walk, hand in hand, thinking about only the present. Only about now.

Not much walking later they arrive. The Marsh Market. And it is not like how Klairence expected. Unlike the Port of Halona, which was organized and neat, the Marsh Market is chaotic. Market stalls, shops made out of shabbily constructed shacks, and even just blankets covered in trinkets laid out on the muddy ground scatter the plot of uneven land. Canals weave through the muddy land mass, carrying wooden boats both big and small through the marketplace. Some of the streets are made of cobblestone. Others are treaded down from dirt and mud. The place is surprisingly crowded, and features many races, all conducting business. The stalls at the entrance are standard goods like clothing and food. But farther back there are houses stacked high, with little shops tucked in the alleys. Corner stalls filled with bottles of strange substances, necklaces of shimmering gold the venders claim give you great health. The whole place has an air of shadiness to it. There are no guards here. No archives. No rules.

Klairence and the others wander the streets, cautiously treading through uneven paths that weave across the dirt, dipping into ditches and climbing over mounds. They stay near the front stalls, the popular ones, fully drenched in the light of the sun, which hangs high in the sky. Klairence drifts away from the group, drawn to a larger stall with a crowd of people around it. An assortment of weapons lay across the table, with a simple spear standing straight up by the stall. Klairence remembers what Heven said, about needing new weapons, feeling the worn old dagger at his side. It's about time he got an upgrade.

Heven sighs. "Where did Klairence go?" He stops the girls who stand behind him, looking around. They both shrug. "I'll go look for him. You two stay here, try to find a weapon or something of that sort to buy."

"Alright. Hopefully someone didn't try to rob him again." Juniper comments sarcastically. Fana snickers as Heven strides away down the path, trying to spot Klairence's tell-tale scruffy hair.

"Klairence, what were you- oh!" Heven says as he spots Klairence near a different stall, jogging towards him. He stops as Klairence turns around, proudly holding a new spear.

"Oh, hey Heven! Check out what I got." Klairence plants the spear on the ground as Heven smiles.

"I see. Found an upgrade?" Klairence nods. "I thought you were running low on money?"

"Traded my necklace for it. Guess it was worth something after all." Klairence says, shrugging as he crosses Heven and heads up the path. "I'm guessing Juniper and Fana are waiting for us. Come on!"

Klairence runs up, waving towards Juniper and Fana. Juniper now has a bow slung across her back. It's a lovely bow, actually, simple yet quiet beautiful. It's a dark oak arc, with a single string strung across it as tightly as the strings of a lute. A quiver, empty of arrows, rest on her back too. She places coins down on a counter, as a merchant places a handful of feathered arrows down. She investigates each one, scrutinizing it, before nodding to her self and placing each one carefully in her quiver. Fana holds a small round shield. They chat about their purchases, but only for a moment. After all, they aren't just shoppers. They've got a goal to achieve.

Fana slings her new shield over her back using a leather strap, as she Juniper depart, off to find some more appropriate clothes for Fana. Her dress has begun to tear at the bottom. Heven digs through his bag, eventually pulling out a roll of parchment, the records Onive gave him.

"Where do we go now?" Klairence inquires, peering at the parchment. Unfortunately, unlike the books, there's no pictures for Klairence to gaze at here. Heven squints his eyes, studying the paper. 

"Honestly, I am not sure... there's no archives here. Our best bet would probably be to head to the less," Heven pauses to cough, " _ desirable _ places of the market and see if anyone looks like the type to buy a stolen dova crown." Klairence nods his head, gripping his hand tightly around his new spear, as they walk past all of the nice stalls, headed for the  _ real _ Marsh Market.


	20. Gray Area

Klairence takes the lead as he and Heven duck through streets of the market, an uneasy feeling creeping into their stomachs. The streets begin to empty as they enter the alleyways, squished between the houses stacked up high. Klairence stumbles through, his face hitting ladders and ropes dangling from the top houses. Stalls begin to appear around them, filled with horrid smelling spices and bubbling bottles. Some also display gold and jewls, held close to the merchants draped in black. Stolen, probably. The occasional figure sweeps through the place. No eye contact is made. No words are spoken. This is the gray area of the marsh market, a line between the underground and the aboveground market. That market's just a cover, of course. The real goods lie much farther. 

Heven holds his pouch of coins in his hand, tucked just between the handle of his sword and trousers. He stares straight ahead, and Klairence follows his lead. This is not time to be fooling around. There's a small inlet between two buildings, and Klairence ducks in it, pulling Heven a long with him. They talk in low, hushed voices, following the lead of those around them. 

"Well... we're here. And I'm not going into the underground." Klairence says to Heven. Heven shakes his head.

"We might have to. Whoever bought that crown must have known it's value and status. It is, or at least, it was, an illegal good." Klairence sighs, frustrated.

"Yes but... was it illegal enough? What was the gang that supposedly bought it?" Klairence asks. He might be the risky type, but he doesn't want to get too deep into that...shady stuff. He can tell Heven doesn't want to either, but he's getting desperate. It's been awhile since he left. He needs to get that crown, fast, before his family starts getting too worried.

"Li. The gang was Li. Although, technically, it was a thieves 'guild.'"

"You think they have a stand or something, to sell their goods?"

"I'm not sure. For all we know, they don't exist anymore."

"You didn't ask Onive that?"

"I was in a hurry. I wanted to make sure Juniper and Fana were ok." Klairence sighs, provoking a glare from Heven.

"I'm sorry-"

Heven shrugs if off. "It's fine. We're going to find that crown..." Klairence turns around, realizing they are being watched. His first thought, of course, is Ajax. But that thought quickly flies from his head. He turns to see an elderly merchant sitting at a stall, humming quietly to himself, watching the two talk.

"A crown, you say? I knew a boy, who had a crown. Brought it right into this town." The old man chimes, his voice raspy and cold. It sends a shiver down Klairence's back. The man chuckles, although it ends up sounding more like a cackle, which quickly devolves into an ugly fit of coughing. He's a salskin, but not an ordinary one. He has gray hair on his scaly, balding head, but it's tied in a long ponytail down his thin back. The top of his head is bare, covered in a mix of shiny tan skin and brilliant green scales, although they appear duller in the darkness of the alley. One eye is gone, and a long scar covers where it once was. The other eye is the color of a dying grey. His hands have no claws, but rather, overgrown finger nails, and the scales that cover his arms are scratched and brittle. He has a turtle shell attached to his back, and he wears traditional salskin robes of a pale green that is draped over his frail body.

Heven and Klairence cautiously approach the man's stall. It is broken down, giving off the same air of a dying animal, an ugly feral hog taking it's last breath. A few things cover the counter, but they are broken and scattered in an unorganized fashion, unlabeled and uninteresting. A cover for something deeper. Heven coughs, glancing at Klairence. Klairence hesitantly steps forward, running his hand over the uneven wood of the old salskin's stall.

"Yes, we're looking for a crown that should've passed by here. It was years ago but-" Klairence is interrupted by the man rising from his stool, his bones creaking with arthritis. He begins to mumble as he crouches down, unlocking a heavy chest sealed tight with melded steel.

"Ah yes! The crown that belonged to the original dova king, yes, yes. I know of it, I know of it..." The old man chatters to himself, unlocking the chest with a rusty key and beginning to dig through it. Heven whispers to Klairence,

"Maybe we should just go-"

"No, no, don't go." The man says, continuing to dig through the chest. Heven freezes. How in the name of Ka did he hear them? "You are looking for the crown, yes? Haza can help you."

"Who's Haza?" Klairence asks, confused. He ignores Heven's pleas to leave. The old man looks up, smiling a toothy grin at him.

"Why, me, of course! Ha ha!" He laughs, this time a little less creepily, but no less crazily. "The crown, one of the seven, ah yes, the seven." He continues to mutter to himself. "Now where is that damned thing..."

"Seven? Sir, what do you mean-" Heven begins.

"Here it is!" Haza emerges triumphantly, or as triumphantly as he can without breaking something. He places a piece of paper down on the counter. It's covered in dust and must be incredibly old, but there is not a scratch nor tear on the whole thing. The color is consistent, a light tan, with no discolored bits. Klairence, filled with curiosity, reaches out to touch it, but gets his hand slapped by Haza. "No touch!" He shouts, giving Klairence a dirty glare with his eye. "It is a map. It will lead you straight to the crown, promise." 

Heven looks at the paper, suspicion in his eyes. "It does not look like much of a map to me." Haza unrolls the paper, revealing that it's completely blank. Klairence and Heven both sigh. He must be crazy.

"Ah, yes! Silly me, I forgot to turn it on," He outstretches and old finger, running it along the paper in what appears to be a swirling pattern. "Silly Haza." The map then begins to glow a faint yellow, causing Klairence and Heven to both jump back in surprise. It glows?! Klairence looks at Heven, sure that Heven's heard of something like this before, but Heven looks just as surprised, if not more, than Klairence does. Haza laughs again. "See? You make the pattern, and then it works! See, see?"

He flips it around, showing it off proudly to Heven and Klairence. The glowing fades away, and then it looks like a normal map, with color and labels and roads. Heven takes a step back, hardly able to process the map that lies in front of him. Klairence, on the other hand, takes a step closer, admiring the thing with wonder in his eyes. He reaches out to touch it again, but stops himself, remembering what Haza had said, still feeling the sting in his hand. He pulls his hand away, still staring at the thing. It's a map of all of Inara, but there are a few slightly glowing dots. Seven, to be exact, all in a different color. Haza smiles.

"Go on, touch it!" Haza says, encouraging Klairence. Klairence, still mesmerized, ignores the hypocrisy of this comment and reaches out, carefully touching the map. Little symbols that Klairence is able to recognize as letters fade in below the dots. Haza then snatches the map away, holding it in front of him. "The silver one is the crown. See?" He thrusts it back at Klairence's face, pointing to the little silver dot. Klairence is about to speak, but he is interrupted by Heven stepping in front of him, shaking his head.

"How...how is this even possible?" Heven asks, amazed. But then he snaps out of it, slamming his hand down on the counter and pointing right in Haza's face. "What kind of trick are you pulling, old man?" Haza laughs, unfazed, as he gently pushes Heven's arm out of the way. He slides the map across the table. 

"No tricks here, child. See for yourself." Heven glares at the map but succumbs to his own curiosity, cautiously lifting up the thing. It's as light as a feather, the paper as real and papery as parchment can be. He taps around on it a bit, swiping his finger over the surface. He nearly drops the thing as he realizes that his swipes  _ move _ the map, carrying the view from one part of Inara to another. The dots still faintly glow. Heven stares at it in awe. "Human magic, from long ago, they say. Incredible, isn't it?" Haza asks, thrilled to see their reactions to the enchanted paper. Heven nods numbly. 

Klairence can hardly believe it. Magic. He never thought it really existed. There are the stories of dova and their black magic of course, but those are nonsense. He's sure of it. There are also fairy tales, myths of humans who held stick that could summon lightening and beasts from the ground. They're just silly stories to tell children, though. Right...? The magic map in front of Klairence is suddenly making all of these things he was told as a child seem a lot closer to reality. 

Heven looks up at Haza. "How much do you want for it?" Klairence nods with him. They need this. Haza laughs.

"Take it, take it. No money is needed." Haza says, still grinning. Klairence stare at him, puzzled.

"Wait...seriously?" Klairence asks. Haza nods enthusiastically.

"I do not have much longer in this life, children. Soon I will join Ka. Or go to hell, wa ha ha!" Haza lets out a shrill laugh. But then his laugh fades, his face becoming serious. "The dova, they want the crown. I can feel it, the shifts in the air. The wind on my face, it brings danger, you see." Haza reaches out, as if to grab the wind, drawing it close to him and reading the very air like a book. "This map, it is not magic. Enchanted, yes. But no magic. The crown, ah yes the crown, that  _ is _ magic. And it is dangerous!" Haza suddenly snaps at Klairence, causing him to jump back. "Do not let the dova get it!" Haza pauses, then sighs, sinking back onto his little stool, his robes piling around him, drowning him in sea of fabric. He coughs, then waves them away. "Go now, children. Make father Ka proud." Haza closes his eye, muttering a prayer under his breath, and then letting his breath go even. Klairence slams his hands on the counter.

"Wait! What do you mean by magic! What's the danger!" Klairence shouts a little too loudly, frantically searching the man for answers. Heven places his hand on Klairence's arm.

"Klairence..."

"No! We need answers! Wake up, old man, wake up!" Klairence shouts. But he gets no response except for the cold alley air.

"Klairence, he can't answer you." Heven says, a hint of sadness infecting his voice. Klairence looks up to Heven, then back at Haza, confused. Then he realizes that Haza's chest has stopped rising. He no longer mutters. Klairence steps back, seized with horror.

Haza has passed on to Ka sooner than anyone could've imagined.

"What's the report?" Ajax asks flatly. He stares at the tattered map spread across a table, not even glancing at the subordinate by his side. 

"They've found a map, sir." The spy answers. Ajax perks up, looking to his soldier. 

"A map?"

"Yes, a map sir. Human magic from the first era, we believe."

"Why didn't you steal it, then?" A hint of frustration creeps into Ajax's voice. He takes a deep breath, forcing the anger out. Calm, he reminds himself. He is a model for his men. He is as silent and cool as the hand of death. Death is calm. Mostly.

"We can't, sir. It is only accessible by certain movements. A protective enchantment. A code, if you will." The man glances at a written report. "The vendor who sold the map is officially dead. Our reports show he is the only one who knew the code, and we do not have the time to search for others. The human, aviatar, manu, and druid princess are now the only ones who hold the information." Ajax mutters under his breath. This is an...unexpected turn. But unexpected does not always mean bad. In fact, this could be good. Very good indeed...

"Prepare guards for me, now." Ajax orders. He grins. "The time has come to strike." His subordinate bows, and then scurries off, leaving Ajax satisfied. 

Perhaps all of his work wouldn't be for nothing after all. 


	21. The Lava Lands

Klairence and Heven speed-walk their way out of the gray area. No reason to stay there any longer than necessary. Heven clutches the map with one hand, and a slip of paper in the other. His knuckles turn white, as if he's afraid that the items will disappear the moment he loosens his grip. Inscribed on the paper a symbol, the password-thing to unlock the map. The map has faded off of the paper by now, and it appears blank. They should be rejoicing, but it's a bit difficult. A man just died in front of them, after all. Heven mutters a small prayer as they stride away, closing his eyes. Klairence doesn't. He finds it a bit difficult to believe that there's any life after this one. But, for Haza's sake, he hopes that the souls of the dead find rest. It's clear he had lived a long life.

Heven tucks the paper into his pocket, a grim look on his face. He shoves the map into his bag and then looks straight ahead as they walk out of the alleyways and back into the daylight of the market.

"Where did the map say to go?" Klairence asks, breaking their silence.

"I am not sure. I didn't look at it very closely. We can discuss it with the others." He replies, not looking at Klairence.

"Do you really believe what he said?"

"What do you mean?"

"All that stuff about danger and... I don't know. It's a lot to take in, I guess."

"I wouldn't worry about it too much, Klairence. He was obviously nearing the end of his life, and his brain must have been...decaying away."

"I'm still worried."

"You would be."

Klairence sighs, looking ahead as well. He wipes away all thoughts of Ajax, of dova, and of weird old turtle men who are now dead. One step at a time, that's all he needs. That's how Heven seems to do things. Still, the thoughts won't stray. Heven seems to think Haza was some insane, dying man. And while that might be true, Klairence can't shake this feeling. The way Haza's eye stared right into his soul. He was old. But knowledgeable. Unhinged, but not crazy. 

Klairence and Heven wander around, not too impressed with anything around them. Not much can beat the Port of Halona, that's for sure. Everything just feels... less. A bit more strange. Like the ground itself is stolen, illegal, or prohibited in some sort of way. They round a corner and spot Juniper and Fana, emerging from a little building. Juniper has two arm bracelets, made of shimmering metal that clamps around her forearms. Fana has a new outfit, too. She wears a loose fitting brown shirt tucked into pale blue pants that reach down to her knees, fulling exposing her furry satyr legs. Her hair sits in a ponytail, out of her face, truly showing off the roundness of it. She's laughing, hand intertwined with Juniper's. They notice Heven and Klairence walking up to them.

"Hi guys!" Fana says, pink resting on her soft cheeks. She smiles. 

Juniper smiles at them as well. "Find anything useful?" Klairence turns to Heven, gesturing for him to explain. Heven pulls out the map. Fana and Juniper look at the blank paper, at each other, and then back to Heven, shrugging. Heven sighs, and shoves it back in his bag, careful not to let any passerby's see it. 

"It's a bit complicated, but basically, that piece of paper is a map. I know it doesn't look like it, but it shows where the crown is." Heven explains to Juniper and Fana, who still look confused. He begins to talk more, but Klairence tunes out, hearing a noise. He turns around, confused. Nothing's behind him except for a few empty stalls. He walks away, having forgotten about his friends for the time being. He looks up in time to see a figure jump from one roof to another, disappearing behind the awning. Klairence squints up, trying to see it again. It's gone. He quickly realizes that it was probably a dova, maybe even Ajax. Crap. They're being followed. Panic rises in Klairence's chest but he swallows it down. One step at a time.

He turns around, walking back at an agonizingly slow pace. Any faster and he's afraid his heart might leap out of his chest. He taps Heven gently on the shoulder.

"We need to go." Klairence whispers, the words barely escaping his lips. Heven looks back at him, worried.

"Klairence, what is it-" Heven stops as Klairence points up at the roofs of the nearby buildings. Heven looks up and sees nothing. But, somehow, he understands what Klairence means. They're being watched. They all begin to travel away, trying to find a little less populated part of town.

They leave the market as the sun begins to set, lowering itself below the horizon. There's not much outside of the market in the town, just a few more islands with single or two story houses. Klairence spots a narrow passage bewtween two of said two story houses and pulls Heven aside into it, Juniper and Fana creeping in behind them.

"What's the matter, Klairence?" Juniper asks.

"I...I saw someone watching us." Klairence says, taking a deep breath. "I think it was a dova." Heven frowns, pondering the situation.

"We should find and inn. Somewhere with people, but not  _ too _ many people." Heven says seriously. He sits down on the dirt ground, digging around his pocket for a slip of paper. He brings it out and stares at it thoughtfully. It's the paper with the passcode to the map written on it. Klairence stares on, wondering what Heven is trying to do, but never asking. He looks deep in concentration. Heven pulls out the map, running his hand over the paper in the same pattern Haza did. It lights up. He stares at it for a moment, before tucking the map away. Then he does something Klairence was not expecting.

He rips the paper in half. The he rips it again. And again. He tears it into fine pieces before dumping them into the mud and swirling it about with a nearby stick. The pieces would be nearly impossible to find now. Klairence stares on in horror.

"What did you do that for!" Klairence shouts a little louder than he was intending. Heven stands up, dusting the dirt off of his clothes.

"I memorized the passcode. If what you said is true, then someone could take the map and the code." Heven says, adressing the shocked looks on his companions faces. "Nobody's piecing it together again now."

"Yeah, but what if you forget it!" Klairence says, panicking now. He paces back in forth, stirring up mud with his old shoes. Juniper grabs him, holding him still and keeping his feet planting firmly on the ground.

"Calm down, Klairence. It's fine. He won't forget," Juniper looks up a Heven, unable to keep the worry out of her eyes. "...right?"

"I know the code. It will all be fine." Klairence takes deep breaths, calming his nerves. Juniper lets go of him, returning to Fana's side.

"Right. Sorry. Yeah." Klairence says, continuing to take deep breaths. Heven takes out the paper again, opening it up to the map. He points to the silver blinking dot.

"It's that one. Down in the Lava Lands." Heven states. Juniper lets go of Fana, marching up to Heven.

"The Lava Lands?! Seriously!" She shouts. Heven gestures to the map.

"It's what this says."

"It's incredibly dangerous! There's no  _ way _ we're going there!" Juniper crosses her arms defiantly. Heven looks like he wants to object, but he doesn't.

"I know I just... we are _so_ _close_. It's right there. I don't want to have dragged you all on this for nothing." Juniper sighs.

"It will all be for nothing if we're dead. It's too dangerous, Heven, even for me." Juniper announces this with a confident certainty, but she still sounds a bit sad. Fana walks up, looking at the map.

"The Lava Lands. What are they?" Fana asks curiously. Klairence crowds around the map as well. 

"Yeah, I'm confused." Klairence asks, squinting at the place where the little dot blinks. 

"The Lava Lands are a treacherous place full of volcanoes, rabid animals and, well, lava." Juniper says. 

"It's said that the lava lands hold the lost human kingdom, in its farthest and most dangerous reaches." Heven says. Klairence lights up a little.

"You mean... a human kingdom? From the first humans?" 

"Yes, but the crown is only on the very edge-"

Juniper interrupts Heven with, "-which doesn't make it any less dangerous. We can't go." They all stand around, staring at the little dot as it blinks. Once. Twice. Again and again. Surprisingly, Fana is the first one to speak.

"I think we should go." Fana says, a confidence filling her voice. All three of their heads turn to her. 

"Fana..." Juniper says, her voice soft and sad. Fana shakes her head.

"It's one more place. It's on the very edge. I think we should go." She pauses, then smacks her fist down in her hand, determination painted on her fuzzy face. "No. We have to go." Heven nods, placing the map in his bag. 

"Right. If you don't want to come, I understand." Heven says. Klairence elbows him in the stomach.

"I'm down." Klairence says, smiling. They all turn to look at Juniper.

"I suppose..." She sighs. "We've got weapons now, and it's on the very edge. We all have to go home anyway." She smiles a little. "I'll allow it." Fana beams, hopping over to Juniper. She kisses her on the cheek causing Juniper's face to turn beet red. Fana laughs a little, then realizes that Heven and Klarience are staring. Her face turns red as well. 

"Oh... is this a thing now?" Klairence asks, a stupid little smile creeping across his face. Fana and Juniper glance at each other, then at Klairence.

"Yeah... I guess it is." Fana says happily. But her happiness fades. "What's that look for, Klairence?" Klairence is smiling slightly maliciously.

"Yes! Now I can bug you about it the whole way there!" 

Heven facepalms. "Really Klairence, are you toddler?" Klairence just ignores him.

Juniper shakes her head. "You're going to hell, Klairence." He laughs.

"Oh believe me, I already knew that." Klairence chides. "Now tell me literally everything."


	22. Theives

Klairence, Heven, Juniper, and Fana all walk out of the alley, strolling back into town. However, they don't make it very far. As mentioned before, Klairence seems to attract trouble.

A lot of it.

They're just walking along, daylight fading into night, when from out of nowhere, a salskin appears. They're draped in a cloak and step in front of the group, blocking the way.

"Uhm, do you need something- hey!" Juniper starts, but stops as they barrel into Heven, sending him skidding off into nearby alley. Klairence groans in annoyance, whipping out his spear. Everyone draws their weapons.

"Are you serious?!" Klairence yells, as more cloaked figures emerge from the shadows, bearing daggers and small swords. "Can we just go _two_ _steps_ without getting robbed? For Ka's sake!" There's about five thieves in total, and they circle around Juniper, Fana, and Klairence. Klairence glances nervously over to the alley where Heven seems to have disappeared. He hopes he's ok.

Heven lands on his feet, surrounded by the tall walls of a nearby building. He grabs at the hilt of his sword, but the salskin in front of him is too fast. They launch themselves at him, kicking his hand away from the sword and jabbing their foot right at Heven's stomach. Too bad for them, Heven used to train with his older brother's. And older brothers don't hold back. He is able to grab their foot, using a powerful push to disrupt their kick and leave them face down in the dirt. They swirl around, only to find the tip of Heven's blade hovering by their throat, and his eyes staring into the hood of their cloak. Their hood falls down, revealing a surprisingly young salskin girl. She looks even younger than Heven. Heven is taken aback by this and falters, his sword falling too far away from her chest.

She hisses, doing a sloppy somersault back wards and rolling onto her feet, her yellow scaled face fully exposed. Her arms remain hidden under the folds of her black cloak. Heven launches at her, trying to break through and get back to Klairence. She drops down, swinging her foot out like tripwire, letting Heven hit it and fall to the ground. He barely manages to catch himself with his hands, and then a foot is brought down upon the back of his head. He hits the ground, sword slipping out of his tight grasp. He tries to stand but his head throbs. The dirt seems to spin around, and he feels like throwing up. He's only vaguely aware of his coin pouch being grabbed from his belt, and he can barely hear his bag being hefted onto the thin shoulders of the girl through the ringing in his ears. 

Her feet crunch by his side as he closes his eyes. The spinning is too much for him to bear, and he needs to focus on listening. He hears a blade being drawn, and despite his limited brain functionality, realizes he needs to act. His eyes snap back open as he rolls to the side, sword still resting in his palm. His head aches, but he ignores it, standing. The girl looks surprised, as she jumps away, a low growl growing in her throat. Heven realizes that she's relying on speed to win. Now Heven isn't fast, but he's a lot bigger than her. He just needs to turn this from a battle of speed to a battle of strength.

Heven swings at her side, and just as she's about to dodge, he moves his sword to the other side, his elbow positioned right in front of her chest. Before she can react he slams his arm into her, pinning her against the nearest wall and resting the hilt of his sword on the rotting wood. The edge of his blade nearly touches her throat. He shifts his feet, making it a little easier to stand, trying his best to hide the fact that the whole world is spinning around him, and that all he wants to do is curl into a ball on the dirty ground. He glares at the girl, who has dropped her tough look. Fear fills her eyes. 

Her hand shaking, she drops the coin pouch. It lands on the ground, the coins inside making a rattling noise as it kicks up dirt. She looks as if she's holding back tears, shaking slightly. His bag lies on its side nearby. Heven holds his stance. She looks so scared, and Heven realizes with shock that she thinks he's going to kill her. He swallows hard, a slimy feeling sliding into his stomach. That's not what he meant by this. He'd never kill someone.

Would he?

Heven shakes the thought from his head. Now is not the time to be thinking. His head hurts too much for that. He lowers his sword, grabbing the pouch off of the ground, still looking the girl in the eyes. He turns slowly, grabbing his bag and gently setting it on his back. His head hurts, but he can't show it. No, he's got to go out and help Klairence. He turns back, looking at the girl who still stands, petrified on the wall. She slides down, sitting on the ground. Heven doesn't look at her. He simply walks by, taking steady steps to control the throbbing of his head. He turns around one last time.

"Don't come out here." He says. She looks up at him, eyes wide. He turns away once again, preparing to leap out. "You might get hurt." Then he dashes out of the alley.

Klairence holds his spear out, clutching it with both hands. The salskin's look as though they're ready to attack, but then one of them stops. They turn to another.

"You said we wouldn't target kids anymore." The salskin, says removing their hood. Klairence's eyes widen. He recognizes this guy. He's the salskin who attacked him back at the inn. Jaa. The one he addressed hisses.

"They're not kids, they're teenagers." They hiss, voice low and growling. Jaa doesn't back down, and instead glares at the cloaked salskin. "Just do your damn job for once."

"This isn't a joke, Reji." Reji storms up to Jaa, grabbing him by the collar. 

"Moron! Don't reveal my name in front of our targets!" Reji hisses at Jaa. Reji's hood falls off of his head, revealing his face. His head is covered in dark red scales, and scaly horns of ivory emerge from the top of his head in a mohawk like fashion. Jaa pushes Reji off of him, hissing back.

"What does it matter to you, lying bastard." Jaa retaliates, spitting at Reji. Reji is fuming and the rest of the salskins have all stopped, watching the exchange.

"Don't you be growing a moral compass now, Jaa." Reji gets right up in Jaa's face. Jaa growls, bearing his fangs.

"It ain't morality, it's promises." Jaa narrows his eyes. "And you're breaking one right now." 

"Since when did promises matter so much to you anyway, huh?" Reji taunts. He sighs. "The rest of you, do your work! Me and Jaa are gonna have a little talk." Reji commands. The three cloaked figures obey, turning away from their conversation and focusing on the three victims corralled on the street in front of them.

"I recognized him. Didn't you guys?" Juniper asks, low enough so that only Klairence and Fana can hear. They all stand back to back. 

"Yeah. He's from earlier." Klairence replies. He faces the salskins, prepared to fight, when he hears a shout from the right. Every head on the empty street turns to see Jaa lying flat on the ground, spitting out a bit of blood and Reji standing above him, fist still clenched.

"You robbed these bastards before and didn't tell me!" Reji shouts at Jaa, who stands up, wiping the last bit of blood from his mouth.

"I don't have to tell you everything that happens to me, do I?" Jaa spits back. Reji groans in annoyance.

"Yah, you do. That's how being in a thieves guild works." Reji grabs Jaa by the shoulders, clawed fingers digging into his skin. "Clean up your damn act, Jaa, before I tell Ra'gui about this." Jaa glares at Reji.

"You would really stoop that low?" Jaa mutters. Reji is clearly pissed and pulls his arm back, ready for another blow, but Juniper shouts before he can.

"Hey, would you just calm down!" She yells. Reji freezes, letting go of Jaa. Every face is pointed at her in a confused shock. "Punching your teammates? Really? How bad at this are you." Juniper readies and arrow in her bow, shooting it at Reji. The arrow whizzes through the air, just grazing Reji's leg. Blood drips down from the tear in his pants. "Are you going to rob us or what?" Reji turns to face Juniper, hissing. He points a claw at her, and then circles his hand to encompass the other two.

"Would you just attack them already!" Reji shouts at his subordinates. The salskins don't waste any more time, and launch themselves at the three of travelers. 

Klairence readies his spear, pointing at the oncoming attacker. They run forward, looking as if they're just going run into the spearhead. Klairence realizes too late what they're planning on doing. The salskin swoops around the spear's tip, drawing their dagger and swinging at Klairence's right side. He leaps to the left, but not in time. The dagger makes a cut in his side. He ignores it, trusting the rush of adrenaline flowing through his body to numb the faint pain. He plants his spear in front of him as the salskin attacks again, lodging their knife into the wood of the stick. Klairence grits his teeth, feet sliding in the dirt. He pushes the spear, sending the salskin flying back. They land on their feet after a bit of stumbling, dagger still in their hand. 

Klairence prepares to attack when he sees a silver blur, as Heven launches at the salskin from the side, the hilt of his sword on a steady path for the salskin's head. They whip their head around, raising their arm just fast enough to block the blow. They stumble back, letting out a small cry. Klairence looks at Heven, happy to see him in decent shape.

"Heven! You're all right." Klairence exclaims. Heven doesn't look back, keeping his sword in front of him.

"Yes, I'm fine. Focus." Klairence nods, remembering his priorities. 

Juniper and Fana stand side by side, facing the two salskins in front of them. Juniper loads her bow up, but the thieves are running too chaotically for her to aim. One of them has a long, curved dagger that they rip out of their cloak, attempting to bring it down on Juniper's head. Fana jumps in front of Juniper, holding her round shield up to block it. The metal clanks and screeches as the dagger slides off. Fana appears to be shaking, shocked from the power of the blow. 

"Fana, are you ok-" Juniper starts, but she stops short as she sees the other one getting a little too close to Fana. Juniper releases her arrow, watching as it flies through the air. It was a sloppy shot, that's for sure. She's done far better at her training in the palace. Luckily, this salskin is bulky, not fast, and the arrow hits their knee. Bullseye. Juniper begins to load another arrow but stops. 

"Retreat!" Reji shouts. All of the thieves freeze, some confused. Nevertheless, they hop away from their battles, crowding by Reji. He scoffs at them, briskly turning on his heel. "It's not worth this. Let's go." Just as their about to jump away, Jaa stops. He looks around, fear in his eyes.

"Wait. Where's Kami?" He asks in a panic. Reji rolls his eyes. 

"I don't know, Jaa! I sent her after the aviatar. We have to go. We're getting our asses kicked, and Ra'gui is going to be pissed if we don't get anything tonight."

Jaa doesn't move. Instead, his face turns red. He grabs Reji. 

"You sent her after the highly armed aviatar! Are you crazy!" Jaa shouts a little too loudly. Reji hisses, shoving Jaa away.

"You've caused enough trouble for tonight! Now shut up and come with us unless you want Ra'gui to put your head on a pike." Reji threatens. Jaa doesn't calm down at all.

"You're going to leave one of your own guild members behind, Reji. You realize that, right?" Jaa says. Reji shrugs.

"It's just business, Jaa-"

"She's fourteen, for Ka's sake!" Jaa shouts.

"Well that's how old you were, weren't ya!" Reji yells back. "She was a new recruit, and she failed her recruitment. You're getting on my last nerve here, Jaa." Jaa stares at the ground darkly.

"Twelve." Jaa states. Reji looks at him confused.

"What the hell-"

"I was twelve when I got into this buisness. And you know what?" Jaa marches up to Reji. Reji starts to look a little...nervous. Jaa is intimidatingly tall. And is being intimidatingly difient. "I've regretted it every day since." Jaa throws off his cloak. "I quit." 

Reji freezes up, having no idea what to do. The three others remove their hoods, revealing their absolutely shocked and horrified expressions. Reji takes a deep breath.

"You have about ten seconds to take that back Jaa. You know the rules." Reji looks Jaa in the eyes. "You don't get to quit. Not like this at least." Jaa glares right back at Reji. A silence hangs in the night air. A breeze flows by. Everyone on the street is holding their breath. 

Jaa then punches Reji in the face. The cloaked salskins gasp as Reji falls to the dirt ground, his cheek smeared in the mud. Reji spits out dirt, anger radiating off of his scaly body. Jaa realizes what trouble he's in as each memeber looks to Jaa, equally furious. Jaa slowly backs away, closing the gap between him and the four travelers. Jaa then turns around and dashes over to Klairence and his friends. He slows just enough to shout at them.

"Unless you want to get pounded into the dirt by a bunch of pissed off salskins, I suggest you run too!" Jaa yells. Klairence shrugs, looking at the angry bunch. 

"You know what? I think we'll take that suggestion!" Klairence shouts back, grabbing Heven's arm and beginning to run in the same direction as Jaa. Juniper and Fana tag not far behind. 

Jaa turns around, just in time to see Kami emerge from the alley. He lets out a sigh of relief. She's alright. He feels and urge to run back, to drag her away from the situation. He doesn't want her to end up like him. Like this. He feels his feet slowing, ready to run back. But then he sees Lui. Lui is one of the salskins involved in this night of theivery. Like every night. How did this ordinary night turn like this. Lui grabs Kami by the arm, dragging her back the Reji. Jaa turns away. He's too late. She'll go back to the base. She'll join them and be just like them. 

Just like him.

Heven has started to loose spatial awareness. He knows Klairence is dragging him away, and his feet have started moving, pounding rhythematically against the dirt. His head throbs. His thoughts are incoherent and incomplete. He'll keep running, yes, but he's not sure why. Klairence probably knows why. It must be a good reason.

They run and run, until the dirt path begins to fade away. The salskins disengage, running back to their base, no richer and with one less member than they had started with. They only stop once they are sure they have escaped the salskins, gulping in the swampy air. 

"Well... that was interesting." Klairence says after a few moments. Klairence expects Heven to glare at him or make some kind of response. But he doesn't. Heven bends over, breathing heavily. He wanders over to a tree in an almost drunken fahsion, putting his hand against the rough bark. He slides down along the trunk, sitting on the ground and not caring if his tunic gets dirty. Klairence looks over, deeply concerned.

"Heven, what's wrong?" Klairence asks, walking over and crouching down by him. Heven takes a huge breath, letting it out slowly.

"I'm fine. It's just my head... I have a bad headache. That girl kicked me in the head," Heven barely manages to choke out the words. "Also very nauseas because everything is...spinning." Heven sits there, taking in huge breaths, ignoring all the stimulation around him. He closes his eyes, focusing in his breathing. "I'm just going to...rest." He says. Klairence is about to do something when Fana places a hand on his shoulder.

"Let him rest, Klairence." Fana says softly. Klairence looks back at her.

"But-"

"Let him rest." Fana says, a little more firmly this time. "It's what's best for head injuries." Fana looks at the ground. "Trust me." Klairence nods once, letting Heven sit by the tree, his eyes shut tight to keep out all the light. 

"Right. Ok. Are you guys alright?" Klairence asks. Juniper nods. 

"I'm good. Although I didn't get to grab my arrows." She says a little sadly.

"I'm alright. Oh, you're bleeding, Klairence." Fana says, pointing to Klairence side. There's small cut there, from the salskin's dagger. Klairence shrugs. 

"It only hurts a little. I'm fine." He says, deciding to leave it be. "We've got other things to worry about." He gestures to Jaa who is standing awkwardly, and who had been slowly trying to slip away. He freezes as Fana and Juniper turn to him.

"Uhh… hi?" He says, trying a pathetic attempt at an introduction. Juniper places a hand on her hip, sighing. 

"Yes, you. Jaa, right?" Juniper asks. She waltzes up to him, outstretching her hand. "I'm Juniper." Jaa looks at her hand, then up at her, and back at her hand. He awkwardly pushes her hand out of the way, not sure what to do with it. 

"Yeah, I'm Jaa…" He confirms, shifting his feet around in the dirt. "I'm probably just going to go now."

"Go where?" Fana asks politely. Jaa shrugs sheepishly.

"I-I don't know. I didn't exactly plan on this, y'know." He says, his tone shifting from sincere to sarcastic. He gestures around. "All of this." He pauses, remembering something. "Don't even have my stuff with me."

"It's probably not a good idea to go if you don't know where you're going." Juniper remarks. "Just saying." Jaa crosses his arms.

"Uh huh, sure. Alright, well I'll see you guys never." He turns around, preparing to go.

"Not even a thank you? The nerve." Juniper says half-jokingly. 

"What on Inara would I thank you for?" Jaa says, whipping his head back around. 

Juniper sighs. "For saving you, duh."

"Uhh… I don't think you saved me from anything."

"Well that's just your opinion."

"No, I think that's a fact."

"To me it is an incorrect fact." Juniper smiles a little. Then she sighs. "But fine, you can go." Jaa nods once, utterly confused by this interaction. He begins to walk away, not knowing where he's headed.

"Where are we going next again, Klairence?" Fana asks while Jaa is still within earshot.

"The Lava Lands." Klairence replies. Jaa freezes, his feet refusing to take him any further.

"The Lava Lands?" Jaa asks, turning around. Juniper's small smile grows into a full on grin. 

There might be a new traveler joining their midst. 


	23. Brothers

Jaa, Klairence, Fana, and Juniper all crowd around the map. Heven lies on some blankets, asleep underneath the endless stars. His head needs the rest. 

"So you've been to the Lava Lands?" Klairence asks Jaa, who is still in the phase of admiring the incredible, magical map. He nods.

"Yeah, I've been there once, for a short run." Jaa replies.

"Soo... you know what it's like?"

"More than the average person, I would say."

"Great!" Klairence exclaims. Jaa looks at him, a little confused.

"Why is that great?" He asks. Klairence is beaming.

"We could use somebody who knows about the Lava Lands. Want to come with us?" Klairence asks, looking at Juniper and Fana for their approval. They both nod. 

"It would be nice to have you!" Fana smiles.

"Yes, I think a guide of sorts could be useful." Juniper adds, looking lovingly at Fana. She gives her a little peck on the cheek. 

"Maybe you'd find something down there to sell," Klairence's face then lights up. "Ohh, maybe  _ I'll _ find something down there to sell!"

Jaa looks around, desperate for other options. But he quickly realizes there are none. He's got nowhere else to go, and nothing else to do. Nobody to run to. This is his chance, he realizes, his chance to start over. And also he needs to get out of The Marsh. Like, really needs to get out of the marsh, unless he wants the Ra guild, or, even worse, the Li guild coming for his head. He grumbles. They're good cover until he gets out of here, at least.

"Fine. I'll come. But only cause me schedule just got a whole lot clearer." Jaa mutters, plopping down on a rock. 

"Alrighty then, we'll head out as soon as Heven feels a little bit better." Klairence says, looking over to where Heven lies, his head propped up and a makeshift pillow of bags and clothing scraps. Jaa laughs a little.

"Got kicked by Kami, eh? She's a tough one." Jaa teases. Then his face darkens a bit. "She'll do good there." Jaa realizes nobody is responding and curses under his breath. He's not great at small talk. He stands up, grabs a blanket, and wanders over to an area a few feet away from where the others are gathered around. He lays down, pretending to get ready to sleep, and knowing full well that there won't be any sleep for him tonight.

The next morning everyone wakes up early, the sun's faint glow awaking them from sleep. 

"I am fine, I promise." Heven assures an unconvinced Klairence. "It was just a minor head injury." Klairence sighs.

"Alright. But if you start to feel dizzy again, we are stopping." Klairence demands. "No. Arguments."

"You feeling ok, Fana?" Juniper asks, handing Fana a biscuit. Fana nods, taking the biscuit and nibbling on it. 

"Yeah... I feel good." She says, with a content little smile. "I feel good." 

Jaa sits a few feet away from the rest of them, unsure of what to do. It's like sitting at one of those family dinners he remembers from so long ago, awkward and lonely. They obviously have been through a lot together. Fana sees Jaa sitting away, and stands up, walking over to him. 

"Biscuit?" She asks, handing one to him. He takes it slowly. 

"Thanks." He says, sort of struggling to get the word out. He cautiously bites into the biscuit. It's dry and flaky, not very flavorful... but not bad either. He takes another bite. Honestly, it's pretty good. Fana smiles, carefully sitting down next to him.

"I'm sorry if we made you feel like you have to come." Fana eventually says, after some moments of quiet eating. "If you want to leave, you can. We won't be offended." Fana says. Jaa shakes his head a little.

"I... don't got anywhere else to be, clearly." Jaa says gruffly. He keeps his cover on, tough and cold, ignoring the gnawing feeling in his stomach. Guilt. He's gotten so used to shoving it down, hiding it, for all these years, that he barely notices it's there anymore. Barely. He finishes off his biscuit.

"How'd y'all find each other anyway?" He asks, gesturing to the odd array of races around him.

"Oh! Well, Heven is trying to find a lost family artifact... Klairence is with Heven… and Juniper asked to come with us." Fana explains, pointing to each member. Jaa turns to look at her.

"And you?" He asks. Fana looks down, a little nervous. It's still hard to talk about.

"My... my village was attacked and..." Fana barely manages to choke out the next few words, "I don't know if...if a-anyone else made it out so I just... yeah." Jaa looks ahead, letting out a slight nod.

"Ah. I see." Is all he says, expressing no clear emotion on his face. Juniper, having a sort of sixth sense of knowing when Fana needs her, strides over to where they are sitting. 

"You guys look awfully gloomy. Klairence and Heven got started again, so I think we'll be here a little while longer." She says, sitting on the ground in front of them. She pulls out her trusty deck of cards. "Cards?"

They all begin down that all-too-familiar dirt path, on their way to the Lava Lands. Heven's head still aches a bit, but he refuses to complain. One word about it and Heven would force every one to stop just for a little headache. And that's simply a waste of time. He's this close to the crown, and he couldn't be more excited. And scared. Is it really going to change anything? Heven closes his eyes, remembering a simpler time.

"Heven, it's dinner time!" His younger sister had yelled. Heven walked out of his room, and down to the main dining area, with it's soaring ceilings and fancy sculptures. He lives in a mansion, of course. His father is one of the most prominent merchants in Apa, and has a seat on Apa's high council as head of trades. The Aramat family is one of the oldest and most prestigious aviatar bloodlines. Heven's father is someone Heven has always looked up to. But not as much as he's looked up to his oldest brother.

Sarman, his older brother. The perfect child. Destined for greatness, and to take over his father's position in every way possible. Ginin, the second oldest. The one who tried to get the crown before. And failed. Opo, the third oldest. He's quiet. Very quiet. Heven of course, is the middle child. There's his younger brother Tenve, who's a real fighter. A soldier type. Then there's the second youngest, Elle. She's the only sister in the family. And, of course, there's her favorite sibling, the youngest, named Dimen, who's just a little kid. He's still caught in the ways of being a younger sibling, still figuring out what he wants to do and who he wants to be. Heven remembers when Ginin came back, dragged in by guards, after he failed to get the crown.

"Do you understand how dangerously stupid that was!" He heard his father shout from the hall. Heven had eavesdropped, never letting anyone know he was there. Ginin yelled back. He was the only one who ever yelled back at their father.

"Maybe if you'd give the rest of us a chance, I wouldn't have to do things like this just to get some recognition!" Ginin shouted back. He heard a pause, and then his father started right back up again. Heven doesn't understand how one couldn't hear them. Their voices seemed to shake the whole mansion.

"That crown was not for you to find! It is for  _ Sarman _ to find when he's ready to take over my spot on the council! Stop acting like a child and go do something with your life other than foiling your older brother at every turn!"

"You just don't get it, do you?! Maybe I want to take the council spot someday!"

"That will never happen, especially now! Go to your room before I decide to kick you out of the house for being such a disgrace to the Aramat family name!"

"I refuse to just-"

"GET OUT!" Heven heard his father's voice boom, as Ginin stomped out of the room. Ginin had a temper, but he was nice. He always talked to Heven, and when they were little, played with him. Now, he trained with him. Heven had crept up to Ginin's room that night, to try to talk to him, to try and make him feel better. He had been gone for about two weeks, and Heven had missed him. He was worried about him. Heven started to knock, but then stopped. He heard Ginin crying. Heven shuffled downstairs, back to his room. He felt like crying too. It wasn't fair, for his father to pick on Ginin so much. It made Heven so mad. That was the night he made a pact to himself. When he turned sixteen, he would go out. He would find that crown and bring it back.

And he'd give it to Ginin.

"So, Jaa," Klairence begins, trying to start up conversation. The five of them all walk along, the sun high up in the sky. The area they are walking through has faded from swamp and into a thick forest of dark oak. It's a bit intimidating, but they've avoided the worst of The Passage of Bandits. They should be safe here. "What do you do for fun?"

"Fun? Nothing." Jaa states. Leaving Klairence standing there, annoyed. This guy is harder to talk to than a rabid chinchilla. Klairence glares at him.

"I'm trying to start a conversation here. You could at least help." Klairence scoffs. Jaa continues to walk, not looking at Klairence.

"Uh-huh." Jaa mutters, containing a smile. It seems like he finds it honestly entertaining to see Klairence get so worked up over his lackluster answers. 

Klairence groans. "Ughghgh! Like I said, help me out here!" Juniper and Fana laugh, tuning into Jaa and Klairence's exchnage. Klairence crosses his arms and pouts.

"It's not funny." He says in a tone that just makes it more funny. He turns back to Jaa. "You must have done  _ something _ on your spare time."

"I mean, I guess sometimes me and some members would go get a beer from the local tavern." Jaa says, shrugging.

"You've drunken beer?! What's it taste like?" Klairence asks, switching over into full annoying-Klairence-mode. Jaa shrugs once again.

"I dunno, like beer? If you're that curious try some." Jaa says, looking down at Klairence.

"No, my mother would hate that. The least I can do for her is listen to her."

Jaa looks down. "You got a family, then?" His tone isn't bitter, but it isn't not sweet either.

"Yeah. It's just me, my mom, and my sister, though. And my mom's sick, so..." Klairence pauses, sighing. "It's really only me and Leyla." He thinks back to them, sitting in their little house. "Hopefully they got my letter."

The five travelers walk until the sun begins to set, before, as usual, setting up a little camp. There seems to be even fewer people here than there were in the forests between Clarenzia and Ishlak.

"That's because nobody has any reason to come down here." Heven says, drinking water from his metal canteen. "Unless you're a karano headed to the territory, nobody wants to get near Dovgarde."

"Or the Lava Lands." Juniper adds. Fana nods, sipping on some water as well. Heven pulls out his map, sweeping his finger and creating the pattern, ensuring nobody could see it. He lays it flat on the ground.

"See, there's the dot that symbolizes the crown. I think we're getting close-"

"Why is that dot moving?" Fana interrupts, stopping Heven mid-word. Heven looks down at the map, confused. No dot is moving.

"What do you mean, Fana?" Heven asks. Fana points down at the light amber dot that sits bewtween Dovgarde and Apa, in the middle of a forest.

"This one was in The Marsh before. So why's it here now?" Fana asks. Klairence looks at the map, realizing she's right. That dot was not there before. Heven studies the map a little longer, and then let's out a sigh of relief.

"Oh, I see!" He exclaims. Juniper, Fana, Klairence, and Jaa all gather around, curious as to what he means. "This amber dot must be the map, since it's followed the exact path we have." Heven explains.

"That's incredible! So we know exactly where we are?" Klairence asks, staring at the map. What a crazy thing. Heven nods.

"Yep. This should be very helpful." He then tucks the map in his bag again. "Now-" Heven freezes suddenly. He stands up, looking around. Klairence stands up next to him, concerned.

"Heven, what is it?" Klairence asks. Heven silences him, listening around.

"I thought I heard something..." Heven whispers, staring at the trees. There's a woosh. Then another. And another. Black figures whirl through the trees. Klairence and Heven pull out their weapons, standing back to back.

Before they can say anything, eight figures step into the clearing. Klairence realizes with horror that they are eight  _ dova _ , not just figures. And standing at the front of their group is none other than Ajax himself.


	24. Attack in the Woods

Klairence, Heven, Juniper, and Fana all draw their weapons, facing the dova. They been here far too many times. Jaa on the other hand stands up, looking absolutely terrified.

"Uhm... WHAT THE HELL!" Jaa shouts, looking between the travelers and the dova. His heart starts racing. He was not expecting this.

Ajax steps forward, into the light. There's no playful grin on his face this time. His expression is stoic and unchanging, like a solid rock wall. He snaps his fingers, and the rest of the dova disperse, circling around the Klairence and the others.

"I see you dragged a salskin into this, huh?" Ajax asks, not a hint of goofiness or sarcasm in his voice. Jaa starts to shake. He's dealt with plenty before, but dova?! This is too much. He grabs his dagger and pulls it out, forcing himself to stop trembling. He swallows his fear, standing by the others, putting on his mask of a strong and unwavering salskin rather than a terrified child. Ajax sighs.

"What do you want?" Klairence spits at Ajax. 

Ajax takes another step forward. "The map. Hand it over." Heven grips his bag even tighter, slinging it over his shoulder.

"It's ours, and you're not getting it." Klairence retaliates. Jaa looks back at him like he's crazy.

"Are you serious?! Just give him the damn map, for Ka's sake!" Jaa shouts at Klairence. Klairence just shakes his head. 

"Sorry we didn't tell you, Jaa, but this isn't the first time we've dealt with these guys." Klairence clarifies, glaring at Ajax. "They want the crown for something, and it probably isn't good."

"Ok, whatever, but like, we're going to _die_ if we don't give it to them!" Jaa looks around desperately for support from someone else. "Am I the only one picking up on this!?"

"You really should listen to him. You're badly outnumbered here, kids." Ajax then growls. "So just give us the map."

Klairence doesn't respond immediately. They all stand there, anxious, a deadly silence filling the air. Klairence looks up, staring Ajax right in the eyes. 

"No." Klairence says. Ajax lets out a long sigh, rubbing his forehead. 

"Fine." He looks around at all of the dova, wearing the same uniform as he is, a dark outfit with a small red cape. "Get that map." 

The dova don't waste another second. They lunge at the five travelers, not making a sound. It's eight on five. The odds aren't looking so good. One dova, a girl with violet wings, heads for Heven. She holds a long sword, only a little bit larger than Heven's. She swings her sword at Heven with hardly any force, and he easily blocks it, the metal blades hitting each other in a deadly yet graceful fashion. Heven slides back, balancing his footing. He takes a few deep breaths, trying to see straight. His head has started to throb again. Great. The girl launches at him again and he dodges, flowing to the side. But he forgot the numbers. This isn't one on one. As Heven slides away, he winds up right in front of another dova, who brings the hilt of the sword down onto Heven's head with a horrible thunk. Heven falls to the ground, unconscious. His sword clatters down beside him, and the female dova grabs it, tucking it under her cloak and dragging Heven's body away from the fight.

Juniper releases an arrow, aiming right for the heart of a dova. That dova hears the arrow whizzing towards him and jumps over it in a powerful leap. Juniper stands there, stunned. How in the name of Ka did he jump that high, and that fast? Juniper rolls to the side of a sword that comes clashing down beside her, readying another arrow. She has no idea who's sword it is or where it came from. That doesn't matter. She turns around, sending and arrow flying at the first dova she sees. She isn't able to see if it hits, though, because before she can, she feels claws ripping into the back of her shirt. She falls to the ground, the claws starting to rip into her skin. Her back stings. Suddenly she hears a shout, and the claws tear away. She rolls to the side, looking up to see Fana slamming her shield right into the head of the dova who had her pinned.

Juniper stands up, preparing to head right for Fana. But she's too late. The dova throws Fana off of him, and she lands on the ground with a thunk. He rips out a dagger, bringing it down onto where Fana lays. She dodges it, but not enough. The dagger still catches her side, drawing a bloody gash. She cries out, and Juniper runs over, launching her foot at the dova's head. Unfortunately, she was not planning this very well, as she misses and brings her foot down full speed onto the dirt. She yells, her leg crumbling as she falls onto her knees and then her hands. Tears begin to fall out of her eyes, splashing into the dirt. Her ankle feels twisted, as it had hit the ground at an awful angle. She forces herself to stand, wincing as she struggles to balance, her leg crying out for rest. The dova whirls around, facing Juniper now, leaving Fana clutching her stomach on the muddy ground. The air is cold on Juniper's sweating face. Fana struggles to get up, but eventually stands, brandishing her shield. She moves to Juniper, standing in front of her and glaring at the dova. Juniper loads and arrow into her bow. They aren’t giving up that easily.

Klairence holds his stance, but it's getting more difficult. He can't seem to move his spear fast enough to block each attack, and the two dova surrounding him are relentless. His stamina is wearing down. He sends a jab out, aiming for the dova's stomach. They dodge seamlessly, coming right at Klairence with another attack. This time his spear doesn't move fast enough, and the dova's curved blade swings through the air and lodges itself in his arm. He leaps away, but drops his spear as he falls to the ground. Blood drips from his arm, and he looks up to see one of the dova kick his spear away. 

Jaa considers running away. He didn't ask for this. He doesn't want to be here. For the first time in his life, he wishes he was at the base, getting yelled at by Reji or Ra'ki. Two dova face him, one with a sword and another with two short daggers. Jaa clutches his dagger. It's his only lifeline here. The dova with the sword lunges, but Jaa smoothly dodges it. The other comes running at him, swooping both blades with an eerie silence. Jaa crouches just in time, sending a powerful swipe of his foot and knocking the dova onto their back. Thieving has really improved his reflexes. Jaa looks around, seeing the dova with the sword a few paces away. This is his chance to get the hell out of here! He turns, ready to sprint for it.

"Freeze." Ajax commands. His voice isn't loud, but it carries itself through the woods. It demands attention. The dova stop. Juniper and Fana stand back to back, two dova on opposite sides of them. Jaa stops mid step, slowly turning his head back. The dova he knocked to the ground is back up, standing beside the other one. Klairence still sits in the dirt, his own two dova opponents standing above him. They turn to face Ajax immediately and obediently. Klairence looks up, squinting through the dirt smeared on his scratched up face. He nearly throws up when he sees who Ajax is standing by.

The violet dova woman stands, holding Heven's unconscious body in her arms. Ajax holds Heven's sword, his clawed hand wrapped around the hilt. It's sharp edge is dangerously close to Heven's neck. Klairence's eyes go wide, and his hand instinctively goes to cover his mouth. He feels sick. Juniper and Fana look at each other, hands shaking. Jaa has stopped moving forward, just as frozen in place as everyone else.

"Drop your weapons." Ajax says, his face drawn and serious. He glares down at the teenagers. "Now." 

Silence hangs in the air. Then, there's a noise. A thump. Jaa's dagger hits the ground, stirring up the dirt. He's the first one. To accept it. To give up. To realize what this means. Juniper starts crying, from everything crashing down on her, the reality of everything. How stupid she was. How stupid she still is. She sets her bow and the ground, laying her quiver next to it. She falls onto her knees, staring into the trees. Everything aches. She can't stand anymore.

Fana's shield falls to the ground with a loud clank. She lays down as well, blood soaking the side of her tunic. She feels like passing out, but forces her eyes open. She can't faint, too. She has to hear what will happen. She has to see. Ajax sighs, his shoulders sagging, lowering Heven's sword and attaching it to his own belt.

"Finally, you got some common sense," Ajax turns to his dova soldiers. "Restrain them. We're taking them back to Dovgarde." 

"But sir, wouldn't it make more sense to-" One of the soldiers begins. Ajax marches over to them.

"Did I stutter?" Ajax growls at the dova soldier. The soldier shakes their head quickly, dutifully bowing it. 

"No. I apologize." They say quickly. "I just thought-"

"I know, it seems ridiculous. But Javina wants them all back." Ajax turns around and walks back to his place by the dova who still holds Heven. "Alive." Ajax puts emphasis on the word. He makes it clear to the soldiers: No more blood will be shed tonight. They seize the travelers, who are too defeated to put up much resistance. "Oh, and don't rough up the druid one too much. She's a princess."

"Damn right I am." Juniper mutters under her breath so quietly that only she can hear. She glares at Ajax, who has his back turned to her, and then she looks to Fana, who has passed out in the arms of one of the dova. She tries to be tough, to be difficult for the dova holding her, but it's so hard. Because it's over. 

They've been defeated.


	25. The Great Wall of Stone

Venkie wanders down a stone hall. Which one, he's not sure. He doesn't really care, to be frank. He always finds his way out eventually. He always winds up back in the tower barracks. He can never seem to escape them, nor the people in them. The Great Wall of Stone has a lot of hallways, but most of them aren't used anymore. Today, he's found himself in the old jail area, a prison for criminals of long ago. It's empty now, of course. Dova criminals are locked up further in the kingdom and, well, there aren't any other races trying to get into Dovgarde, and there won't be any trying anytime soon. 

Venkie holds a torch, but the halls are surprisingly well lit. He reaches out with his free hand, running his hand over the smooth stones stacked on the wall. His claws barely scrap the stone, since they're rounded small, not sharp like they should be. The areas he usually ends up wandering are darker, and the stones colder. Cold enough to send chills down his spine. But these rocks are pleasantly cool. Or at least, as pleasant as they can be. Nothing's pleasant here, at least not for Venkie. Venkie continues his travel down the hall, the rough soles of his military boots echoing through the empty hall. It's just him and his thoughts. 

Venkie is a dova, but doesn't really look like one. He could honestly pass for a salskin. He's got light blond hair that creeps down his neck but not much farther, at the absolute maximum length his hair can be here. Any longer and they'd just shave it all off as punishment. He has soft features, with light orange eyes and a hint of blush on his pale cheeks. His face is relatively free of scales, and most of his light orange and soft red scales cover his legs and arms in uneven patches. He has two small horns jutting out of his head, one red and the other orange. Only adding to his un-dova like demeanor, Venkie is hardly taller than six-foot, very short for a dova, and his build is thin, not bulky. His military uniform is too big for him, the black sleeves of his cloak extending past his hand and the boots too large and clunky. His tunic is a deep red. And emerging from this tunic are small, red, dragon-esc wings.

Venkie continues to wander down the hall, trying to find a good alcove or hidden room to duck into for a few hours of peace. But as he searches, he starts to hear something. He stops, straining his ears. A voice. His chest clenches in fear. If he gets caught, he's dead meat. He's supposed to be asleep in the barracks right now, not wandering around unsupervised, with a small book "borrowed" from the library tucked under his arm. His breathing quickens, coming out in short bursts. Is today the day? He considers running back down the hall, but just now realizes how unreasonably long it is. He'd make to much noise. He whips his head back around, spotting an alcove not too far down the hall, where he heard the voice coming from. He shrugs, beginning to creep over. It's his best bet.

As Venkie nears the alcove he realizes it is, in fact, a corner. All the stones are starting to blend with each other, warping his sense of what's there and what isn't. Venkie stands, back to the wall, as he peers around the corner. His eyes go wide as he sees a person and he jerks his head away, chest heaving. He doesn't dare run now. They're too close. They'd hear him for sure. He closes his eyes. He can hear them talking, and can't help but wonder what they're talking about.

"Just tell me your name, for Ka's sake! It isn't that difficult." Venkie hears a voice shout. It's loud and brash, with the all too familiar accent of a dova. There's the rattling of metal. Then a low and raspy laugh. It sounds... reptilian. He subconsciously scooches even closer to the edge of the corner, desperate to hear more.

"Already told ya, my name isn't any of your business." A different voice says. It's very reptilian, the  _ s _ sounds long and drawn. A chill creeps throughout Venkie's body, a clammy cold even his dova internal heat can't keep at bay. It can't be... can it? There's a loud groan from the first voice.

"It is plenty out business,  _ salskin _ ." The dova says, spitting out the word salskin with a contagious disgust. Venkie feels his hand's go numb. It is. A salskin. But how? And why? Questions race through Venkie's mind at a thousand miles an hour. This is impossible. It has to be. He's dreaming, right? There's no way that someone other than a dova, a  _ salskin _ no less, tried to get into dovgarde.

Right?

"I've told you before and I'll tell you again: I had nothing to do with this, and whatever those kids did to piss you off, I'm not involved." The salskin says again. There's a stomping of boots, as if someone is pacing around.

"And  _ I've _ told you before, that I don't care." The pacing stops. "If you don't care about them, then maybe you can help us and make it out of this unfortunate situation alive."

"I might not care about them, but I don't care about myself, either." The salskin laughs. "There's not much I'm proud of, I'll tell you that much. But the one thing I pride myself on is not helping out people who clearly don't have good intentions for no tangible reward." 

"Oh, you're one to talk about good intentions. You're a dirty thief, aren't you?"

"I'm a dirty thief with standards. I do wrong things to benefit myself, not others." The salskin pauses. "I don't care what ya got to offer." 

"Fine." There's the sound of boots clomping on the ground, fading away from Venkie. "Just one less person to drag to Javina." Venkie stays there, unmoving, until the footsteps fully fade away. And then he stays there some more. Minutes pass, minutes of quiet breathing, of letting his heartrate fall back into a healthy range. That was too close. He lets out a long breath he had been holding, peeling himself off of the wall. He turns to go back to the barracks. That was quite enough excitement for tonight. 

Venkie tries to take a step, but his foot won't move. There's a yearning to go back, to see what that was. He's never seen a salskin before. Hell, he's never seen anyone except a dova, and he's dying to do something. Nothing good has happened, not in the year he's been stranded in this miserable wall. He feels so trapped, and some small part of him thinks, no, hopes, that talking to someone new could help. It's a stupid idea. The stupidest he's ever had, by far. And yet he turns on his heel. He takes slow, quiet steps, creeping around the corner. This hall is shorter, with a thick wooden door sealing it off on the end. There's a few old prison cells clustered in the walls. Venkie takes another cautious step, every noise he makes feeling as though it's as loud as an earthquake, or a volcanic eruption. As he creeps forward his steps seem to slow, heart ready to pound out of his chest. His evens his breathing.  _ Calm down _ , he tells himself. He just wants to talk to whoever this is. He just has to know.

"Who's there?" The voice asks, echoing out from one of the cells. Venkie's heart seems to stop. Maybe this wasn't a good choice after all. He hears a low growl. "I said, who's there, damnit." The voice goes from curious to gruff. Scary. Venkie swallows hard, taking another, louder step forward.

"Just... a curious dova." He responds, not sure what to say. The voice doesn't reply. Venkie walks forward, standing right in front of the cell, brandishing his torch out in front of him. The light shines on a green salskin who sits in the cell, looking exhausted. Done. And surprisingly, unafraid. Venkie can't help but stare. He looks like a dova but also... doesn't. He gives off a whole different aura. They stand there a moment, staring, the light of Venkie's torch flickering and the only sound filling the space the crackle of its flame. 

"What'd ya want?" The salskin asks roughly, not even trying to be polite. Venkie snaps out of his stare, and then nervously laughs. His face turns a little pink.

"Well I-I don't know... what I want." Venkie says awkwardly. The salskin gives him a weird look. "I mean, I just overheard you talking and thought I might-"

"You overheard me and Ajax?" The salskin looks up at Venkie, the glare on his face a little less soul shattering. Venkie nearly drops his torch hearing that name.

"A-Ajax? Commander Ajax?" Venkie asks, his voice barely above a whisper. His face has gone pale. "Here? Like, right now?" 

"Yeah, that's who I was talking to." The salskin comments. But then he coughs. "Oh, I'm sorry. The one who was 'interrogating' me." He scoffs. "He was doing a pretty lousy job at it." Venkie barely processes his words, too focused on the fact that the commander Ajax is in the same complex as him. Marxia didn't even tell him!

"Oh no. If he's here, then that means Marxia's going to have us clean the barracks, clear out the dining hall... if I'm not back in time she'll kill me I-"

"I doubt you'll have to worry about that. Commander what's-his-face is trying to keep our transit secret." The salskin says. "Well, their transit. I'm probably not making it out of here." Venkie snaps back into the conversation, shoving his thoughts of Ajax and Marxia aside. 

"What do you mean?"

"I thought you said you were eavesdropping. Because from the sound of it, it doesn't look like Ajax wants to drag a salskin thief to the capital." The salskin sighs, looking down, the reality seeming to settle in on his soldiers. "I guess I'm gonna die here." Venkie stumbles back, a little shocked by such a blatant comment. 

"W-What did you do?" Venkie asks, a little horrified. What could someone do to deserve a punishment like that? Ajax had said his was a thief, but still! 

"I dunno, it wasn't me for the love of Ka. It was whatever Klairence and the others did before I hopped along their little wagon." The salskin says, raising his voice. "Aren't you a guard or something? Shouldn't you know?" 

"Me? A guard? No, of course not." Venkie quickly clarifies, running his fingers through his hair. "I-I'm just here to train. It's sort of a military boot camp. As soon as I'm eighteen I'll join it for real and...become a soldier." Venkie tries his best to sound enthusiastic, but can't really muster it up. He wants to be anywhere else, with any other future than this one. 

"Got it. So you're sneaking around then, eh?" The salskin asks with a grin. Venkie blushes.

"How could you tell?"

"I know a guilty face when I see one." 

"What's your name?"

"Didn't you just hear me say I won't give away my name?"

"I'm not with them. I won't tell." Venkie pleads, looking hopefully. He sighs.

"Fine. Name's Jaa. You?"

"Venikie. But call me Venkie." Venkie looks down. "I like it better." Venkie looks over at the thick wooden door. "You said you came with a group of people?"

"Yeah, a few. They musta done something to piss you guys off, because apparently the dova have been on their trail since the beginning." Jaa says, standing up. He takes a few steps to the bars. He's as tall as Venkie, but Venkie's used to being the shortest one around. 

"Well, you should probably go. Don't wanna get caught chatting it up with a prisoner, eh?" Jaa says playfully. He's trying to joke around, but it's becoming harder. It's looking bleak for him, and he's got a pretty high standard for what counts as "bleak." 

Venkie nods. He should go. He's had his excitement. But he doesn't want to go. It's clear as day that Jaa hasn't done anything wrong, at least not to the dova. What could they possibly be thinking? Ajax is the highest commander on the chain. What is he doing with a petty thief? Venkie doesn't want to go. He wants to stay and talk with this Jaa. He wants to learn everything about him. 

But he's going to die soon, and there's nothing Venkie can do. Unless... no. Venkie shakes his head. He couldn't. He's worked so hard here. He couldn't. He thinks back to the barracks. There's nothing waiting for him there. Home? Nothing. Just his brothers to beat him black and blue. If you can even call them brothers. They're all adopted anyway. Venkie approaches the bars of the cell, walking right up to Jaa and looking him in the eyes.

"I'm going to let you out." Venkie states in the most confident tone he's ever used in his life. Jaa steps back, shocked.

"What?" He asks, bewildered. Venkie nods.

"I'm going to let you out. On one condition." Venkie pauses, taking a deep breath. "You've got to take me with you."

Jaa stares at Venkie like he's crazy. 

"What? Why do you want to leave?" Jaa asks. Venkie's confidence slips away as quickly as it came, reverting back to his usual nervous self. He looks down, doing anything to avoid awkward eye contact.

"I, uh... I've got my reasons." Venkie decides to say. Jaa doesn't say anything about his shaky tone. Instead he looks over to the door at the end of the hall. There's a light in his eyes, hopefulness once again filling his body.

"Good enough for me. I'll convince Klairence to take you with us." Jaa says. He stares at Venkie. "Now get me outta here." 

Venkie doesn't waste another second in here. He speed walks towards the door, gently pushing it open. Inside is small square room, with an empty table and an equally empty chair. Stairs curl through the floor on the opposite side of the room. A small lantern hangs on the wall, filling the space with a warm, honey glow. And dangling right next to that lantern is exactly what he is looking for: Keys. Venkie creeps over to the wall, carefully removing the keys. His heart pounds. It seems like every noise could alert someone, and that they'd rush up here in an instant, ruining everything. Venkie exits the room, relief filling his chest. 

Venkie approaches the bars, finding a lock tightly sealing a little door shut. He unlocks it, the door swinging open with a very loud creak that fills the whole hall, echoing down the stone pathways to elsewhere. Jaa steps out, now fully basking in the light of the hall. He stands in front of Venkie, their faces level. They really are equal in height. They are certainly not equivalent in build, however. Jaa is much broader than Venkie, and it is very apparent now. Jaa takes a small step forward and Venkie instinctively takes a huge one back, still staring at Jaa.

Jaa looks stern, and frankly, scary. Venkie starts to panic internally, realizing what a mistake this might have been. What if he had been lying, and is actually a serial killer or something? What if he's the next victim?!? Venkie shudders at the thought. Jaa takes another step towards Venkie, and panic grips his heart. His feet are frozen in place, as he heart starts to race practically down the hall. Jaa reaches his arm out, and Venkie fears for the worst. But Jaa simple places his hand on Venkie's shoulder, a friendly gesture. 

"Thanks." Jaa says, looking away. He takes his hand off of Venkie and turns around. "I owe ya." Venkie nods along, his heart still racing away. "Now how do we get outta here?"

Venkie and Jaa creep through the halls, walking up the spiral staircase in the guard room only to find themselves in yet another hall of cells. They wander through, Venkie jumping at every little sound. A few more rooms and they hear something. 

It sounds like rocks banging, and then a metal screeching. A few grunts, and finally, a defeated sigh. Jaa motions for Venkie to stay as he creeps ahead. Jaa leaps in front of one of the cells.

"Gah!" Venkie remains on the wall, hearing a voice shout out in surprise. But the surprise quickly fades away into disbelief.

"Jaa? You're out!? Thank Ka!" The voice exclaims.

"Yah, I'm out." Jaa says a little bitterly.

"Well get me outta here, then!" Jaa pauses.

"I didn't have anything to do with this Klairence, and I'm pissed that you didn't tell me about it." Jaa growls. Venkie stays back. He doesn't want to get involved. The other voice, who he can only assume is Klairence, scoffs.

"Yeah, ok! I did! And I'm sorry! But are you really just going to leave me here with this- ah!" Klairence winces, and Jaa steps forward, a guilty look on his face. 

"No. Of course not. Here." Jaa takes out the ring with all the keys on it, trying out a few before the lock finally snaps open. Klairence walks out of the cell. Venkie nearly gasps aloud in shock. A human. He's never seen anyone without scales or wings, someone so short and...vulnerable. Other than himself, of course. Klairence looks tired and disgruntled, and he's holding his arm. It's got a bloody gash, poorly wrapped with some cloth scraps. He looks exhausted, annoyed, but his expression quickly changes as he sees Venkie standing a few yards away. He points over at Venkie, shocked and angry.

"Dova!" He shouts, immediately charging at Venkie. Venkie panics, covering his head with his arms.

"Wait no I'm not-" Venkie cries, squeezing his eyes shut. But there is no impact. He opens them and sees Jaa with his hand on Klairence's shoulder.

"He let me out. Calm down." Jaa says. Klairence looks Venkie up and down, and nods slowly. 

"Uh huh. Ok. Annnd why is he still here if you're already out?" Klairence asks, directed more at Venkie then Jaa. Venkie coughs.

"I... I uh-"

"He knows the way out of here." Jaa interrupts Venkie, saving him from a most likely awkward and time-consuming explanation. 

"Yeah, my uh, my name's Venkie." Venkie says, walking towards Klairence but never getting too close. Klairence nods at him, expression still dark.

"Well thank you, Venkie. I won't ask why you're helping," Klairence says, turning around. "I probably don't want to know." Klairence then looks to Jaa. "Where are the others?"

"Probably on the other levels." 

"But why spread us out so much? Must be hard to guard."

"Separation, to avoid escape plots." Venkie says flatly. Jaa and Klairence both whip their heads towards him, causing Venkie to blush. "I-It's a common thing in Dovgarde." Venkie hastily explains. 

"Well we gotta find Fana, Heven, and Juniper, and it'll probably take some time. Let's go." Klairence says, beginning to take off down the hall. 


	26. Dining with Dova

Juniper sits at the end of a long dining table in a large room of stone. She is wearing a soft, ivory dress and her leg is neatly bandaged up. Guards line the torched walls, all intimidating dovas. The table is set, and overall, it looks like a formal scene. Except, of course, for the heavy door locked at the end of the room, and the guards ready to subdue her at any moment. Juniper taps her foot nervously, looking around the room. Klairence, Heven, Jaa, and Fana were all taken other ways. She has no idea why she's here, and not locked up in some cell. Her heart is pounding in the silent room. Suddenly, the door opens.

Ajax walks in, taking a seat at the opposite end of the dining table, a smile plastered onto his face. It's a fake smile, of course. After a life in court, Juniper can recognize a fake smile, those looks of greedy politeness. They riddle royalty. Juniper sends him the dirtiest glare she can muster, and his smile falls from his face immediately. There'll be no fake courtesy, not as long as Juniper can help it. Ajax gives Juniper a tired look. Eyebags sit beneath his narrowed eyes, and he definitely has looked better. He's probably felt better, too. Good. Juniper takes a guilty pleasure in his suffering. He lets out a long, exasperated sigh, and then straightens out his posture, trying to keep the never-ending exhaustion out of his eyes.

"Food will be arriving soon, miss Juniper." Ajax takes a few slow steps into the room, taking his time sitting down at the other end of the table. Juniper slides her chair back ever so slightly in disgust. "I hope you'll indulge me by eating it." Juniper glares at Ajax, her stare never breaking. She says nothing. She will not give him the satisfaction of a reply, whether that be affirmative or otherwise. No, she won't say a word. Ajax stares back at her with his usual cold expression. The silent air is more tense than awkward. Ajax fiddles with some of the silverware at his table, yawning. 

"This going to be awfully boring, your majesty, if you don't say anything." Ajax says, twirling a spoon on one of his claws. Juniper's glare fades just a bit. He's being unusually formal. But she doesn't comment on this, and keeps her lips sealed shut. "Just to clarify, this isn't some sort of interrogation. I know you don't have the code to the map. So there's no need to be so tight-lipped." Ajax gives a little smirk. "Or is the princess just a little shy?" 

Juniper clenches her fist, anger rising. She forces herself to remain calm, taking a quiet breath. _He's_ _provoking_ _you_ , she tells herself. _Ignore_ _him_. Still, her blood can't help but boil. Sarcastic comments like that really get on her nerve. She eyes Ajax suspiciously. If this really isn't some weird interrogation, then...

"What do you want?" She asks in a less than polite tone. 

"Always with the questions, good lord. Do you people talk about anything else?" Ajax muses. His annoying smirk is once again painted on his face. The doors open and Ajax smiles. "Food's here!"

Juniper is hungry, but she refuses to eat the heap of meat and vegetables on her plate. Ajax, of course, is eating his own food with no cares. But Juniper just stares at her food. She feels bad for wasting it, but she also has her dignity to uphold. She pushes the porcelain plate away, in an obvious refusal of the false hospitality she's been given. She stares at the door, wondering where Fana is. She's sure none of them are getting full meals tonight. It makes her sick. At least it makes the food on her plate look less appetizing. Ajax looks up at Juniper.

"Oh, and to answer your question, princess. We don't want anything from you." Ajax takes a sip of red wine from his goblet. "At least not yet."

"Then why am I here?" Juniper demands. She doesn't believe a word he says.

"Don't know if you've picked up on it yet, sweetheart, but you're a little too important to just toss away." Ajax says, dead serious. "Attacking the princess of Clarenzia would cause a lot of problems. You realize that, right?" Juniper is almost embarrassed. Of course that's why.

"So what, you're just gonna keep me here forever?" Juniper shoots back, her words bitter and poisonous. Ajax doesn't reply. Juniper narrows her eyes suspiciously. "What's that supposed to mean?" Ajax stands up, pushes in his chair, and swoops around.

"Please escort miss Juniper to her chambers." Ajax commands, snapping his fingers at the guards who stand by the door. They nod once, and then swish over to Juniper. She is about to stand when the door bursts open, and a frazzled guard stands there, holding the door open with his hand. He's breathing heavily, and he looks panicked. Ajax stares down at him. "What is the meaning of this interruption?" Ajax asks. The guard stands up, not even bothering to salute Ajax.

"The prisoners, they got out." The guard says, in panicky, short bursts of speech. Ajax glares down at the terrified guard.

"What?" Ajax asks, his voice eerily quiet as it echoes through the room. The door slams shut behind the guard, causing him to jump. He hastily salutes and bows to Ajax, who could care less about formalities.

"G-Givie just returned. She said the salskin was gone. I checked, the human's gone too." The guard informs Ajax. Ajax clenches his fist, and breaths. 

"What about the other ones?"

"Givie is checking on them now, commander." The guard nervously taps his fingers together. "I-I have no idea how they got out, we completely cleaned out the cells, there's no way he could've picked the locks, either of them, and-" Ajax holds up his hand, silencing the guard.

"It's fine. I want all guards sent to the aviatar's cell. Immediately." Ajax commands, managing to keep his cool. The guard bows, and every guard in the room except for the two standing behind Juniper march out of the room. Juniper, however, is smiling. They got out. She sits still, watching Ajax as he stalks out of the room after each guard. "Don't get your hopes up, princess." Ajax says in the doorway, not turning back to Juniper. Juniper just smirks.

"Don't get your hopes up either, Ajax."


	27. A Plot

Venkie, Jaa, and Klairence all dash through the stone halls, breathing heavy. They might not be running from anyone, but they need to move fast. Faster than they are moving right now.

"There were eight dova at the attack, including Ajax." Klairence says, muttering his thoughts aloud.

"And there are probably only three to five more guards. The trainees are all asleep, and I doubt Marxia knows about this." Venkie says.

"So that's about twelve guards spread throughout this whole area." Jaa says, breathing hard. Klairence nods as he dashes down the hall. 

"Right. They've probably figured out we've escaped, though. We gotta find Heven. He's got the passcode." Klairence grits his teeth.  _ We're gonna find you _ . Klairence thinks, making a silent promise to Heven.  _ We're gonna get out _ .

Klairence skids to a halt, flattening himself against the wall. Voices. Venkie and Jaa do the same. 

"One more floor, right?" A voice says.

"That's where Brik said the aviatar'd be. Let's get going." Another voice responds. Klairence looks to Jaa, and they both nod, swiftly turning around and running back from where they came, dashing up the stairs. Heven should be on this floor. They dart down the hallway, slowing as they hear more voices. Guards, a few of them. Klairence curses under his breath. They must've sent more guards. The three find a small room and duck into it, shutting the flimsy door and crouching behind a little desk.

"What do we do?" Klairence whispers frantically. The more time they waste, the more guards will show up. Klairence looks down at the blood dripping from his arm and then back to Jaa and Venkie, who are crouched beside him.

"We should go find our weapons." Jaa suggests, also whispering. Venkie shakes his head.

"There's no way you'd win." Venkie stops, thinking for a moment. He looks at Klairence. "I'll distract them, if you two slip in there and unlock the cell." Klairence stares at Venkie, a little shocked.

"You'd do that?" He asks. Venkie nods, determination dancing across his eyes. Jaa puts his hand on Venkie's shoulder. 

"Alright. Don't hurt cha self. I'll sneak in there." Jaa says. Venkie blushes a little. 

"You sure? I'm a bit smaller than you-" Klairence begins. Jaa gives him a smirk.

"I'm a thief, Klairence. You forgot?"

Jaa and Venkie exit. Jaa stays close to the ground, hidden against the wall, finding the shadows in the torchlight. Venkie takes a deep breath and runs forward, but then slows to a stop, his claws hitting the stone floor. He looks around, confused. Then he turns back to Jaa.

"There's... no guards." Venkie says to Jaa, who is crouched on the floor. Jaa slowly rises, walking up beside Venkie.

"That's odd." Jaa says, staring into the hall with his eye's half closed. He ventures further, standing in front of the cell. "Venkie... what is this?" Jaa asks, staring into the cell. He looks disturbed. Venkie cautiously creeps up beside him, peering into the cell as well. The door is open, still swinging off of its creaking hinges. As Venkie's eyes scan the room, he audibly gasps, his hand clamping over his mouth. There's blood. It covers the walls. Feathers lie about the space. It looks like a murder scene. 

Maybe it is a murder scene.

Venkie is frozen in place, thoughts racing through his head at a million miles an hour. But one thought sticks out from the crowd, a constant, pounding worry in his head. Are Jaa and Klairence still going to trust him? Jaa takes a step into the cell, his breaths in a steady, heavily monitored pattern. He investigates the area.

"He's not here...but he was." Jaa says, emerging from the cell. "That's all I can figure out." 

"D-Do you think he-"

"Maybe. We need to tell Klairence." Jaa turns around, hastily making his way back to the room with Klairence. Venkie follows not far behind, his heart pounding harder than it ever had in his life. 

Jaa opens the door, and Klairence bursts out from behind the desk, brandishing one of the thicker books in the room as some sort of makeshift weapon. He relaxes as he's sees it's just Jaa.

"Jaa! How'd it go? And where's..." Klairence stops, eyeing the solemn expression on Jaa's face. His enthusiasm fades, replaced by panic. "Where's Heven?"

Klairence stands in front of the cell. He hasn't really processed the scene yet. His brain is slow, trudging through thick layers of mud, his thoughts crawling along at a snail's pace. He stands completely still, with only the sound of his own beating heart and uneven breaths filling the empty spaces in his head. But then the reality hits him like a ton of bricks, every little drowning dot connecting themselves. Klairence doesn't even realize the tears that begin to fall down his cheeks.

"He had the code... they wouldn't have." Klairence manages to choke out. It feels like the stone around him is about to cave him, drowning him. Swallowing him whole. Jaa lets out a sad sigh.

"Not unless they somehow got the code." Jaa says. Klairence looks up at him, tears resting on his thin cheeks.

"But how-"

"We don't have time for questions, Klairence." Jaa says sharply. Klairence steps back, surprised at Jaa's tone. But then it softens. "I'm sorry, but we don't have time. We gotta get out of here."

"They could've just moved him, we have to go find him-"

"Klairence." Jaa puts his hand on Klairence shoulder. "We have to go. Fana and Juniper are relying on us." Klairence's thoughts stop. His feet start moving, as he forces his emotions down. He can deal with them later. He can deal with everything later. He looks a Jaa, with his stern face. He's unreadable. Klairence swallows his pride, his tears, everything. All of it is going to be buried. He feels his head nodding up in down in agreeance with Jaa. He can feel his feet moving, carrying him down the hall. Down some stairs. Everything feels blurry and fuzzy, but that's okay. It means he feels blurry and fuzzy too. And if he could feel right now, he has a feeling he wouldn't make it out alive.

Venkie trails behind Jaa and Klairence. A lot of things are happening, a lot of things that he can't really focus on right now. He feels sad, that's for sure. Klairence must be sad. Jaa, too, even if he doesn't show it. Venkie is a bit dissappointed. He never got to meet this Heven. He feels guilty for such a selfish thought, being sad that he never got to meet the aviatar. The things Klairence must be feeling are far worse. He wants to smack himself in the head for being so inconsiderate. Just as they begin to ascend the stairs, Venkie stops.

"Wait. I don't think the prison section goes up much farther. And there's no way out from up there." Venkie says, causing Jaa to turn to him. Klairence stops, but doesn't look back. He's still.

"How do we get out?" Jaa asks. Venkie stops, trying to remember. Where has he been that leads to outside of the wall? Certainly not the barracks, or the training rooms. None of the courtyards or towers. Forgotten areas, like the cemetary or...

"Catacombs." He says, thinking aloud. "The old catacombs. There's said to be old tunnels that lead to outside of Dovgarde. And nobody goes down there anymore."

"You've been down there?" Jaa begins to descend the stairs, gently dragging Klairence along behind him.

"I, uh, explore a lot." Venkie admits. "I sneak away from training whenever I can, just wandering around the wall. Marxia doesn't like it, though." Jaa nods along. Eventually they stop walking down the stairs, heading into a long hall. There's cells down here, too. They search them. No Fana or Juniper. Jaa frowns.

"Where could they be?" Jaa asks. Klairence still hasn't spoken. 

"Is there any reason they wouldn't be here?" Venkie ponders. Jaa suddenly jerks up, remembering a very important detail.

"Juniper's a princess." He says. Venkie freezes, realization hitting him. That's not good.

"Oh. Oh no." Venkie murmurs. Jaa looks to him, somewhat scared.

"What is it?" 

"She won't be hurt. But she won't be here. Ajax must have her. He's got to have her." Venkie places his hand on his forehead. "Of course, it makes sense now. Marxia didn't make us prepare because she doesn't know he's here. That's why there's so few guards. This is a secret mission. If the other kingdom's found out a Dovgarde commander kidnapped a princess-"

"There'd be war." Klairence says, turning around. Jaa and Venkie turn to him, surprised to hear him speak. His voice is very level. In fact, it's so level it's almost monotone. Klairence looks down to the floor. "We're not going to be able to help her, are we." Klairence says, his tone dripping into sadness. Venkie nods. He won't sugarcoat it. If she's a princess, there's no getting her out. Jaa curses. 

"Well then what's their plan, keep her here forever!" Jaa shouts in frustration. They all pause, thinking. What will they do? The air silent and heavy. Venkie looks to Klairence.

"Why did Ajax capture you guys?" Venkie has a map in his head, of everything he knows about this situation. Klairence, picking up on Venkie's ideas, obliges in answering.

"We were searching for Heven's family heirloom, a crown. Why?" Klairence responds. Venkie freezes, not sure he heard Klairence correctly.

"A crown?"

"Yes, a crown."

"I-Is it a dova crown?"

"Yeah, it was the first dova king's crown." Klairence is starting to get frustrated. "But what does this have to do with anything?!"

"There's an old folktale, a legend of sorts. Everyone knows it." Venkie begins. Jaa and Klairence tune in, curious. "The first dova crown was supposedly magic, and it is said to make any dova twice as powerful in all aspects. As for any dova of royal blood, it's supposed to make them ten times more powerful." Jaa and Klairence look to each other, then back at Venkie. "Of course, it's just a legend, bu-"

"Has anything else happened lately?" Klairence asks, desperate for answers. Venkie thinks. 

"No, except..." Venkie's heart freezes. "W-Well, there's been a huge influx of soldiers in the training program recently, and from what I can tell, a lot of campaigning for the military…. I just thought we might need more defense or something." It makes sense. All three of them know it. But nobody says it aloud. Nobody says anything until what feels like hours later, when Jaa clears his throat, admitting what they've all figured out.

"Dovgarde's getting ready for war," Jaa says, his voice low and rumbling. "And that crown is the final thing they need."


	28. The Catacombs

The three are continuing down a hall. They're on the lowest floor, and therefore, the one with the thickest walls. There's no way anyone could pry their way to the other side, whether that be into Dovgarde or outside of it. The hall looks like all the other's in the prison section, with a few cells down on the end. They dash towards it, moral having hit rock bottom. They need something to be there. Someone. They approach the cell, and look in. It's so dark, but it doesn't look like anyone's inside. Jaa sighs.

"What do we do, Klairence?" Jaa asks. Klairence's expression is blank. He meekly shrugs. Jaa kicks a stone into the cell, and it goes careening into the back. He's about to turn around when he hears something. A faint noise from the back of the cell, shrouded in dark.

"Ouch." It murmurs. Jaa whips his head around.

"Who's in there?" Jaa asks, making sure to keep his voice low. There's a small cough.

"Jaa?" The voice asks. It's soft and tired, what you'd expect a cloud to sound like. Venkie hasn't heard anyone sound like that, ever. But Klairence and Jaa immediately rush up to the bars of the cell, straining their eyes to see into the black.

"Fana!" Klairence shouts. "Is that you?!" There's some movement from the back of the cell, as Fana stands and makes her way up to the front of the cell. She has a rough blanket wrapped around her body. It almost covers the dark stain of blood on her side, bleeding through her torn tunic. Tears fill the corners of her eyes as she sees Klairence and Jaa.

"You guys are ok." She murmurs softly, tears spilling out onto her fuzzy cheeks. Venkie stays back, out of her line of sight. Jaa hastily opens the door and Fana steps out, still clutching the blanket. She looks around. "Where's Juni?" Klairence and Jaa look to each other nervously.

"We'll explain later. You're bleeding. Lie down." Klairence says, dodging the question. Fana sits down on the wall, the blanket pooling around her. Klairence kneels in front of her.

"This is... not great." Klairence says, picking his words carefully. "We need to wrap it up. Got any cloth, Jaa?" Jaa looks over to Venkie with his oversized black cloak, and Venkie realizes what he wants. Venkie carefully walks over, hoping not to scare Fana. But her eyes are closed, her head resting on the cold stone. She's shivering hard. He takes off his long cloak, handing it Jaa, who swiftly tears off a large chunk with his sharp claws. He hands it back to Venkie, but Venkie tosses to coat aside. He ripped off about a third of it; it's got no use now. Klairence hastily wraps up Fana's wound. It's sloppy, but they need to get out of here. 

"Can you walk?" Jaa asks Fana, nervously looking around for any signs of approaching guards. Fana responds by trying to stand, and then wobbling on her hooved legs. She bites her lip as she steadies herself against the wall, finally looking up to Klairence.

"Who are you?"

"I-I'm Venkie. I'm helping you guys out." Venkie says, giving her a kind smile. Fana ponders this for a moment, and then smiles back.

"Well, it's nice to meet you Venkie. Even if it's-" she winces. "-here." She takes her hand off of the wall, straightening her posture and looking straight down the hall. "Where are we go-" Jaa places a finger on her lips to silence her. They all stop, listening. Footsteps. Jaa pushes everyone into the cell, shutting the door and hiding in the darkest corners. The footsteps come, like someone walking down the stairs. The four hold their breath as the footsteps grow closer.... and then fade. It sounds like whoever it was continued to walk down the stairs. They all let out a long, collective breath. That was close. 

The four begin down the hall, Fana using Jaa to steady her walking. She wonders where Juniper is, and where Heven is, but she doesn't ask. Her side aches. She feels lightheaded. Everything's a big, jumbled mess in her head, thoughts flying in and out, shattered by the occasional burst of sharp pain. She focuses on walking. Klairence focuses on walking, too. Jaa focuses on Fana, and on noise. The only one who's brain is still filled with coherent thought is Venkie, who has too many coherent thoughts to focus on any of them. More things have happened to him in the past half hour than in his entire life. 

They walk in silence, but it's a comfortable silence. A focused silence. They've all got one goal right now, and talking would just make things more difficult and complicated. So they walk down the hall, spiraling through stone stairs, down and down and down. The air becomes cooler and damper, the torches darker and stone mossier. Venkie swallows hard. The catacombs can't be too far. Eventually they reach the bottom of the stairs, in a small, incredibly dark chamber. Venkie swoops his torch around, showing that it is simply a room. The torch braziers are empty, and the whole room has a dampness hanging over it, and a slightly unpleasant, earthy scent. The floor is made up of tightly packed dirt, with moss somehow managing to crawl out from the depths of the ground, like a serpent and it's curling tongue. In front of them is a large stone doorway with a rotting wood door hanging loosely on it's rusting hinges. 

Venkie creeps over to the door, shaking it gently. It's locked. Jaa comes up from behind him, Fana standing unsteadily not far from Jaa. Venkie looks back to Jaa.

"It's locked." Venkie says. Jaa scrutinizes the door.

"I could probably bust it open." Jaa replies, but Venkie just shakes his head.

"No, that's a little risky. And loud." Venkie hands his torch to Jaa, walking to the door and investigating the hinges. "We did hear someone come down. It was the other way, but still. They could be sending guards to the catacombs." Venkie runs his finger over one of the hinges, squinting at it. He bends over and begins to breath on the hinge. Jaa walks up next to him, confused.

"What are you doin- WHAAT THE HELL!" Jaa suddenly shouts and jumps away. A steady funnel of light orange flames has begun to furl out of Venkie's mouth, hitting the hinge. It begins to melt like honey, dripping down onto the ground and searing the dirt. The other three stare on amazed, as the hinge fully melts. He goes to the other and a single puff of his breath is enough to loosen it. He takes the door and pulls it away from the wall, struggling under the weight of the heavy wood. Jaa dashes over, taking the door and rather aggressively planting it on the ground, laying it against a different wall. Klairence is still staring at Venkie and the smoke still rising from the melted hinge, which lies in a pile of mushy, molten metal on the floor.

"You...you can breath fire?" Klairence blinks, staring blankly at Venkie. Venkie's face turns red, only partially from the heat.

"I-I mean all dova can. I'm sorry if that's weird." Venkie says, suddenly worried. He thought everyone knew this. Jaa smiles a little at Venkie. 

"It's awesome. Thanks for gettin the door down." Jaa smiles at Venkie as sweetly as he can with his rather intimidating and sharp teeth. Venkie smiles back, his face as soft as a little puppy's. Klairence pushes past both of them with his good arm. 

"So this leads out?" Klairence asks, his seriousness not fading. Venkie nods. He turns around, brandishing his torch. 

"Where's Fana?" He asks. All three turn to see her sitting on the floor, back against the cold stone, shaking as she holds her side. "Fana?" They all surround her, as Jaa grabs her hand and helps her up. She's still shaking.

"Here." Jaa lifts up Fana, gently slinging her over his shoulder with surprising ease. Fana's too lightheaded from blood loss and too tired to comment. She looks like she's going to pass out. Jaa keeps an arm on her back, to make sure she won't fall. He turns to Klairence. "Let's go." 

The four make their way through the catacombs, led by the light of Venkie's torch. It's so dark they can barely see the walls, but from what is visible they appear to be walking down an expansive main chamber. Klairence steps on something, and it makes a loud crunch. He decides not to look down and see what it is. The farther they travel into the chamber the damper and mustier it gets, the air filled with a not quite gross stale smell, and a general feeling of uncleanliness. A few rats crawl across the partially cobbled ground, and shelves that once held books now hold webs and nests full of spiders that hide within the burnt scrolls and scamper across the walls. A shiver crawls down Klairence spine. He wants to get out even more now. 

At the end of the chamber is another door, just like the one they entered. It must be the second entrance to this part of the catacombs. A single hallway rests in-between the doors, leading to where they can only assume freedom lies. Just as Venkie is about to lead them down it, there's a noise from the other end of the chamber. They all duck into the hallway, hugging the wall. It sounds like wood being hacked at, and heavy breathing. Eventually, there's a loud crash, as the wood splatters and splinters. Venkie looks over to Klairence, fear filling his eyes. They'll be easily visible with the torch. Whoever it was moves closer, footsteps hitting the dirt ground. Then they speed up. Klairence holds his breath, praying that whoever it is won't see the light.

"Who's there!" A weary voice calls out. Venkie glances over to Klairence looking for his guidance. But Klairence doesn't move. His heart has frozen. It can't be...

Klairence's feet move on their own. He steps out of the hall, looking up. He expects to see a guard. It must be a guard. 

There is no guard.

Instead, in front of him stands a tall, tan man with large wings. Feathery wings. Tears spring to Klairence's eyes, as the boy drops his sword.

"HEVEN!" Klairence cries, bounding over to Heven and wrapping his arms around him. Heven is frozen. He looks down at Klairence who is still crying, hugging Heven.

"Klairence?" Heven asks softly. Then tears form in the corners of his own eyes. He wraps his arms around Klairence too. "You're okay..." Klairence can't stop the waterfall of tears as they cascade down his cheeks. Every emotion buried in those layers of mud has come rushing out, a flood of feelings wiping away the murky swamp. 

"We tried to find you but you weren't in your cell and w-we thought... I thought you were..." Klairence's tears stop him from finishing his sentence, but Heven gets the point. Suddenly, he jerks his head up, gently pushing Klairence away.

"We? You mean you found the others?" Heven asks, his eyes darting around the dim space searching for them. Jaa takes this as his cue to emerge from the hall, Fana still slung over his shoulder. He's holding the torch in his other hand. Heven runs over to them, his sword still lying in the dirt. Klairence goes over to pick it up, and sees a little bit of blood on the edge of the blade. He shrugs it off and picks up the sword, carefully holding it in his hands.

"Is she alright?" Heven asks, looking to Fana. Jaa nods.

"She passed out, but I don't think it's just because of blood loss." Jaa says. Klairence walks up from behind them.

"She should be fine." Klairence says, handing the sword to Heven. Heven takes it, re-attaching it to his belt. "Are you alright?"

"My head is pounding, but I'll live." 

Jaa turns into the hall. "Come on, Venkie. He won't bite." Jaa says, turning back to Heven and Klairence. Venkie emerges from behind Jaa, giving a small wave to Heven.

"Uhm, hi." Venkie says, his voice squeaking a bit. Heven controls his impulse to rip out his sword, instead looking to Klairence.

"Who is this?"

"Venkie. He's helping us out of here." Venkie sheepishly nods. Heven approaches Venkie, moving Jaa out of his way with a wave of his hand. He stands in front of Venkie. Heven is only an inch or so shorter. Still, Heven bows to Venkie, catching him a little off guard. 

"Thank you." Heven says simply. Venkie doesn't know how to respond. He's honestly a little shaken by Heven's tone, so sincere and serious. All he can do is muster a measly, barely audible "you're welcome" and watch as Heven rises and turns his back to Venkie. Heven glances at the group.

"Where is Juniper?" He asks, his brow furrowed. Jaa looks at Klairence. Klairence looks at Jaa.

"We'll explain." Jaa says, handing the torch back to Venkie. 

"Yeah, but we need to get going. Can you lead the way, Venkie?" Klairence looks to Venkie.

"I-I can try. I've only been down here once though."

"Trying is all we need." Klairence stays close to Heven, afraid that if he strays too far, he might disappear. "Now let's get the hell out of here."


	29. Amber, Silver, and Gold

Juniper sits on a large bed, up in one of the wall's towers. She has a little window letting light filter through the room. Through bars, of course. She's wearing a silky nightgown, her stomach painfully empty after her refusal to eat dinner. A small bowl of honey candies rest on a dresser in the corner, but she refuses to touch it. Every time she feels the temptation she reminds herself of how hungry Fana must be, how tired and hurt, and suddenly her appetite is gone. Juniper wanders around, trying to find some sort of object to pick the lock on her door with, but finds nothing. They really cleaned this place out. She plops down on the far too cushy bed, sinking into it. Why do they even have this here? Why do they even have  _ her _ here? Juniper groans into a pillow. Nothing makes sense, and everything sucks. She wants to scream.

There's a knock on her door. She glares at the wood, lifting her face off of the down feather pillow.

"What do you want!" She shouts angerly at it. Much to her dismay, she hear's Ajax's voice respond.

"I want to come in, so I am. Just giving you a polite warning." He shouts back. She mutters some curses under her breath and kneels on the bed, preparing her best death glare for when he enters the room. She hears the knob fidget until it finally twists open, and Ajax steps inside. He doesn't look happy. In fact, he looks so unhappy, that Juniper's glare melts right off of her face, replaced with confusion. He slams the door behind him, plopping down on a stool right by her dresser. Juniper tilts her head at him, unable to keep a smug little smirk off of her face.

"What's seems to be the problem, Ajax?" She muses, milking this moment for all she can. But she stops, jumping a bit as he reaches out his arm and digs his claws right into the dresser, dragging them across the surface of the old wood. He lets out a deep breath as he places his hands back in his lap, calm and controlled. Huge claw marks are left splintering out of the wood. Juniper's smile is gone. This is serious. He looks up at her.

"Your companions escaped." He says. Juniper stops, the information hitting her like a wall. Then, a second wall hits her, one of emotions. She's so happy. They got out! Fana got out! She's safe... everyone is safe. She lets out a huge sigh of relief, a breath she didn't know she had been holding. She starts to laugh, and cry a little too.

"Oh...oh thank Ka..." She says breathlessly. Ajax then stands, swooping elegantly over to the small end table with the bowl of honey candy resting on it's aged oaken surface. Ajax takes a candy, delicately unwrapping one and plopping it into his mouth. 

"But they left you, of course." He says, hiding his face from Juniper's line of sight. Junipers smile fades. She frowns, glaring at Ajax.

"I'm not that easily manipulated, Ajax." She tells Ajax, giving him a dirty glare. "They made a smart desicion." Ajax laughs it off, turning back to her.

"Oh, of course. Just thought you might've forgotten." He taunts. Juniper's glare doesn't fade. He really thought that would work on her? He must be more stupid than he seems. He crunches on the candy, swallowing it down and looking at Juniper. 

"Is that all you wanted?" She asks in annoyance. She just wants him to leave more than anything right now. Ajax glares at her.

"That's just the news I brought. There is something I want." Ajax strolls over to Juniper. "I want to know the passcode to the map." Juniper scoffs at the request, crossing her arms.

"I don't know it. Heven kept it from all of us. And even if I did, I wouldn't tell you." Juniper wants to spit at Ajax's face, but refrains from doing so. She's a prisoner, and she needs to remember this, even if she is a priveledged one. 

Ajax grumbles. "Well then, tell me where the crown is."

"You tell me why you want it, then." Juniper retorts. Ajax lets out a laugh. It's withdrawn and almost sad.

Ajax takes a step towards Juniper, but never gets too close. "I don't doubt that you've figured out why we want it by now, right? Unless you're not as all-knowing as you claim." Juniper frowns. So he figured it out. 

"How'd you know?"

"All royalty learn about it."

"So what, are you royalty or something?"

"I'm close enough." Ajax's fangs gleam in the dying sunlight. Juniper suddenly stops.

"You're...you're not trying to make  _ it _ , are you?"

"I don't know. All Queen Javina has requested is the crown." Ajax replies. Juniper's eyes widen, and she practically jumps out of the bed.

"You realize it's just a stupid myth, right? Magic isn't real. You're doing all this for that!" Juniper shouts. Ajax turns around, pointing a clawed finger right at her and raising his own voice.

"Javina just wants the crown, so I'm going to get it for her!" Ajax shouts back. Juniper shrinks a little, backing off. He's loud, that's for sure. Ajax takes a deep breath, running his claws through his hair. "I just follow the orders."

"Alright then..." Juniper eyes him suspiciously. "You can go now."

"You still haven't told me the passcode."

"I don't know it."

"Fine." Ajax sighs. "I can't deal with this right now. We'll talk tomorrow." He heads for the door. "Good night, princess." He slams the door shut, and the handle wiggles as it's locked shut once again. Juniper shudders, wrapping herself up in the fuzzy blankets and clutching a pillow.

The crown. Silver. Makes a royal dova ten times more powerful. With something like that, Javina could start a war. Suddenly, it hits Juniper. She  _ is  _ trying to start a war. With the crown she could start it but to win she'd...

_ Oh Ka _ . Juniper thinks, clutching the pillow harder.  _ She's going to try and make it _ . Juniper stares out into the sunset.  _ She's going to make the scepter _ . 

Juniper eventually falls asleep, thoughts of Javina and the scepter on her mind. Her brain spins a dream. It's weird and confusing, as dreams are. Nonsensical. But at the end, something happens. She sees one image. An image that fills her with hope. The necklace she gave to Fana. The amber, dangling on its simple string, as it bounces on her chest. Of course. The necklace. Juniper had a hunch it was the Amber. And now its safe, with Fana, and Fana is safe as well. And no matter what Javina does, the gold will always be safe. 

Juniper bursts awake from her sleep, a cold sweat dripping down her face. The rest of her dream has been forgotten, the rest of her thoughts shoved away. Amber and Gold. Juniper runs out of bed and jumps to her window, staring down at the wall of stone and the forest below. Out upon Inara. Her breathing is heavy and her fingers are cold as the clasp the edge of the window. It all makes sense. The Ishlakan attacks, Ajax's focus on the crown. They're going for the golden rod.

In her palace.

Javina is planning to attack Clarenzia.

A shiver runs down Junipers back, as she realizes why she's here. Like this. 

They're trying to take over Clarenzia, and she's going to help them, whether she wants to or not.


	30. Isn't Over

Klairence, Jaa, Fana, Venkie, and now Heven all dodge through the maze of halls in the catacombs. Room after room. Some are abandoned studies. Some have bones in them that the five have decided against investigating. Empty shelves, abandoned chests, it feels as though the dark stone and damp smell will never go away. Eventually they wind up in another huge chamber but with only one door. 

Venkie nears the door, opening it cautiously. He expects to find stairs. Or another room. A hallway or maybe, if he's being hopefully, a ladder leading out. Instead there is a tall and lanky dova girl standing before him. He leaps back, yelping and letting the door slam shut. He frantically gestures at the four to hide and they leap behind a wall as the door swings back open and she steps into the chamber to see Venkie standing there, nearly shaking as he holds his torch out to her.

She is thin and flat, with the shape of a tall twig. She has deep blue hair with gray streaks in it wrapped up in a frazzled ponytail, and light blue and gray scales to match her gray wings. She's wearing the same uniform as Venkie, although with her cloak, and looks about the same age. She also holds a torch, and she looks a bit shocked to see Venkie's face. He swallows. He's in trouble.

"Venkie? What the hell are you doing down here!" She shouts, taking a step towards Venkie.

"Yix! W-why are you here?" He neversly utters. She gives him a dirty glare. 

"After Marxia didn't see you at role call, dinner,  _ or _ bed check, she knew you must've run off, and made me come look for you!" Yix rolls her eyes, clearly annoyed. "You know how much trouble your goofing off could've caused me if I didn't find you!"

"I-I'm sorry-"

"Tell it to Marxia when she's talking your ear off for sneaking out again." Yix sighs. "And to the catacombs of all places. Now come on, it's long passed free time." Yix grabs Venkie's arm, obviously intent on dragging him back with her to the barracks. But, for the first time and much to Yix's surprise, Venkie pulls away from her grasp.

"W-Wait Yix. I'm-" Venkie swallows hard. "I'm not going." Yix stares at him, confused.

"What'd you mean-" Yix stops. "You're running away?!" Venkie nods, leaving Yix speechless. "That's crazy, Venkie. You don't have anywhere to go! None of us do, that's why we're here!"

"I can't stand it here anymore." Venkie says, biting his lip. Yix is about to yell at him more, but then stops. Venkie's shaking his head, tears starting to roll down his cheeks. He grips his torch so hard his knuckles turn white. "I can't stand it." His voice begins to crack, interrupted by sobs as the tears begin to fall from his face more steadily like rain. Now Yix truly is speechless. She stands in the empty hall, with Venkie standing in front of her, his fists clenched and eyes puffy with tears. They stand a moment, silence resting in the space. Finally, Yix makes a choice. A choice she'd never thought she'd make. She turns her back to Venkie.

"Down that hall, take a right, then a left, and then keep on going." Yix says. Venkie wipes the tears off of his cheeks with his sleeve looking up to Yix.

"What?"

"Down the hall. Then go right. Left, and keep going. That's how you get out. Past Dovgarde." Yix says, looking down at the ground.

"How do you know that?" Venkie asks, so confused. Yix pauses.

"I've considered running myself. But I never did." Yix looks back at Venkie. "Now go, before I decide I'd rather watch Marxia beat your ass than feel it myself." Yix takes a step to the door, putting her hand on it.

"Thank you." Venkie says suddenly. Her back straightens.

"For what?"

"For being the closest thing I've ever had to a friend." Venkie says. Yix can feel something, like a rock, drop to the pit of her stomach.

"If I'm the closest thing you've ever had to a friend," she says bitterly. But then she turns to look a Venkie... smiling. He's never seen her smile. It looks sad but also a little bit happy. "...then you really do deserve a better life."

"Maybe I'll see you again...?

"For your sake, I hope not." With that, Yix disappears, letting the door slam shut behind her.

Down the hall. Right. Left. This is the path the five of them travel as the walk through the catacombs. Down. Right. Left. The round the final left, practically sprinting, as they skid to a halt before a door. A simple, broken down door, rotting and ancient. It probably hasn't been opened in decades. Jaa sets Fana down as she grogilly wakes up. 

"How do you feel Fana?" Klairence asks, crouching down beside her. She yawns, stretching out her arms. Klairence looks a bit confused at this. How can she stretch like that with her wound. She blinks a few times, adjusting to the the darkness in the hall. She nods her head a little.

"I feel... good, actually." She looks confused herself. "Really good." Klairence nods.

"I'm glad. We can re-wrap your wound once we get to the surface-" Klairence stops as he sees Fana already halfway done removing the cloth secured around her waist. "Wait no what did I just..." Klairence's words trail way. There, right inside the tear in her bloodstained tunic, is where the wound is. Or...should be. Nothing is there. Her skin is healed. Jaa, Venkie, and Heven all lean down, intrigued. 

"How is this even...huh?" Heven mutters. Fana reaches down and touches the place where the wound as. She doesn't wince. Hell, she doesn't even flinch. Her mouth is wide open in shock. She looks up to Klairence.

"I didn't do this-" She begins, but Klairence hushes her.

"Nope, not now. We will discuss this later. Once we're in normal, fresh air, and once my brain has recovered a little bit and can actually think." Klairence says, taking a deep breath. "At least you can climb up the ladder now."

The five of them open the door and climb up a tall, rickety old latter until they reach a trapdoor. Klairence shoves it open and finally, sees the sky. He crawls out, lying in the grass, basking in the moonlight and the stars, taking deep breaths of the fresh, cool night air. He laughs, feeling the grass on his arms. He did it. They're out. The Great Wall of Stone looms in the distance, threatening and tall, but that doesn't matter to Klairence. He's just so happy to breath. To be here. To be free.

They all sit in a circle in the forest, minds cleared and open. Ready to tackle whatever nonsense Fana had gotten herself into. 

"Do you know how it healed so fast?" Klairence asks Fana. She shakes her head no. 

"Any strange rituals performed recently?" Heven inquires. Fana, once again, shakes her head. Nope.

"Potions?" Venkie proposes. Nada.

"Family history of healing?"

"Disorder?"

"Hallucination?"

"Uhm... guys?" Jaa interrupts just as the three were about to drown Fana in their questions. They all turn to Jaa. "I dunno if this helps, but I saw her necklace glowing as I was carrying her. Maybe that caused it or sumthin?" Heven stares at Jaa, mouth agape.

"Her necklace was  _ glowing _ and you didn't tell us?" Heven says, stunned. 

Jaa shrugs. "Seems like you were trying to focus." Fana looks down at the necklace as she holds it up in her palm, a little smile on her face.

"This is the necklace Juni gave to me. Maybe she knew it healed people and gave it to me for that." Fana says softly. Klairence stares at the necklace. 

"Just another mystery, I suppose. One of many." Klairence says. They all nod along, except for Heven who looks very down. "Heven, you alright?" Heven continues to stare at the ground.

"I'm sorry." He says.

"What?"

"I'm sorry you guys got involved. In this. Everyone got hurt because I wanted to find some stupid crown. I don't know why I thought it would help." Heven sighs. He's holding back tears. "Everything at home is so awful. I wanted to do something simple. I wanted to find it and take it back and finally do something. But now this is all awful too, Juniper is captured, we've got a magical amulet and-"

"Hey." Klarience stops Heven from spiraling on. He places a hand on Heven's back. "None of us wanted this. But life happens."

"Still, I shouldn't have done something so risky for a crown-"

"This was never about the crown." Fana says. "Right? Not really. Not to any of us." Heven looks up at them, as it dawns on him. The crown... it's just a distraction. An arbitrary thing. He realizes he just wanted to escape. Fana, Juniper, Jaa, Venkie, even Klairence... they all just wanted to escape. But now, Heven knows what he has to do. No more running from home.

"We have to go back to Apa." Heven states.

"Heven, what're you saying?" Klairence asks.

"We know that Dovgarde is planning war. We know what Ishlak is doing." Heven stands up. "We have to go to Apa and tell them. 

"Without Juniper?" Fana asks worridly.

"No. We will get Juniper back." Klairence says. "But Heven's right. Apa is our only option. Because if what Venkie says is true... if Ajax gets the crown..."

"Inara would be doomed." Heven finishes Klairence's sentence. The whole group looks at each other, nodding. "I guess this is the end. We're done looking for the crown."

"We've got a long way to go until the end, Heven." Klairence stands, staring off at The Great Stone Wall, where Juniper is staring back. "We've got a long way to go."


End file.
